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AC Milan fans ecstatic with Champion League title win
Milan, May 29: Ecstatic Milan supporters were set to celebrate well into the early hours as their team took the Champions League title after a nerve-wracking penalty shoot out with Juventus at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.
Milan, May 29: Ecstatic Milan supporters were set to celebrate well into the early hours as their team took the Champions League title after a nerve-wracking penalty shoot out with Juventus at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.
Thousands of AC Milan supporters packed into their home stadium in Milan to watch Wednesday's (May 28) match beamed live onto a maxi screen.
The tension of the last few moments as Milan took on Juventus in a penalty shoot out was finally broken as cheers and screams broke the night air when Milan won the Champions League trophy.
AC Milan were crowned champions of Europe for the sixth time in their history when they beat Italian rivals Juventus 3-2 on penalties after a deeply disappointing final ended goalless after extra time on Wednesday.
Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko scored the decisive penalty in the shootout at the same end as he had had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside decision in the eighth minute at Old Trafford.
Had that goal counted it would probably have stopped the match, which started brightly, developing into a dour battle of midfield attrition.
There were few scoring chances in the worst European Cup final since Red Star Belgrade beat Olympique Marseille on penalties after a goalless draw in 1991.
The pressure told on the penalty takers with David Trezeguet, Marcelo Zalayeta and Paolo Montero all missing for Juve while Clarence Seedorf and Kakha Kaladze missed for Milan.
The shootout score remained unchanged at 1-1 as four successive penalties were missed before Alessandro Nesta put Milan 2-1 ahead with his side's fourth kick. Juve skipper Alessandro Del Piero, who had done little right in the match, made it 2-2 when he wrong-footed Milan keeper Dida.
But Shevchenko kept his nerve to fire past Gianluigi Buffon and win the first all-Italian European Cup final for Milan.
Paolo Maldini led his victorious team on to the victory rostrum and collected the European Cup -- just as his father Cesare had done for Milan in 1963 when they won the trophy for the first time with a 2-1 win over Benfica at Wembley.
Bureau Report
Had that goal counted it would probably have stopped the match, which started brightly, developing into a dour battle of midfield attrition.
There were few scoring chances in the worst European Cup final since Red Star Belgrade beat Olympique Marseille on penalties after a goalless draw in 1991.
The pressure told on the penalty takers with David Trezeguet, Marcelo Zalayeta and Paolo Montero all missing for Juve while Clarence Seedorf and Kakha Kaladze missed for Milan.
The shootout score remained unchanged at 1-1 as four successive penalties were missed before Alessandro Nesta put Milan 2-1 ahead with his side's fourth kick. Juve skipper Alessandro Del Piero, who had done little right in the match, made it 2-2 when he wrong-footed Milan keeper Dida.
But Shevchenko kept his nerve to fire past Gianluigi Buffon and win the first all-Italian European Cup final for Milan.
Paolo Maldini led his victorious team on to the victory rostrum and collected the European Cup -- just as his father Cesare had done for Milan in 1963 when they won the trophy for the first time with a 2-1 win over Benfica at Wembley.
Bureau Report