I have been a supporter of AC Milan for as long as I can remember, since 1996 to be exact, that is when my interest in the game started. 16 years of ups and downs, 16 years of sadness and joy that I have shared with hundreds of players that have come and gone at my beloved AC Milan. From the days of CostaCurta and Albertini , Weah and Bierhoff, Boban and Ruicosta, Kaka and Shevchenko, to the more recent Prince and Ibra. I stood by and supported them with a heavy heart when we had a bad season, and with unrelenting ecstasy when we were winning. I even refer to AC Milan as "we"! Isn't that funny, as if I had some affiliation with the club, a club that knows nothing of my existence or support. Heck I have never even been to Italy, yet still consider them a part of who I am. It defies logic, it is beyond logic that their performances and results affect my mood and stir up hidden passions and feelings of anger and rage that I wouldn't normally show. I cannot explain why or how this happened, but I love them unconditionally. As Paolo Coelho puts it: "One is loved because one is loved, no reason is needed for loving".
You can imagine my frustration when sitting with a self acclaimed Barca fan as he said "If Milan were the best team in the world, I would support them". To him it is logical, the man wants to see pretty football. To a loyal supporter like me who loves his club, it is simply outrageous to switch clubs just like that! Barcelona fans have been growing exponentially since their European domination 5 -7 years ago, come to think of it, I have never seen so many Barcelona fans in my region before. But I don't know if i'm comfortable calling these new fans, "fans" at all. Like every great team, Barca too will go through a bad cycle, and when that happens, how many of those new fans will stick around for an unpleasant ride? Right now, they are invincible, the new fans go into every game confident of winning, even crushing their opponents, they have rarely tasted defeat, they do not know what it feels like going into a match as underdogs. Their arrogance annoys me to no bounds.
I remember feeling as confident as the new and old barca fans once upon a time when AC Milan's line up alone would send shivers down their opponents spine . I don't feel as confident now, but I still cheer on.
There is no dispute that Barcelona play great football , although I feel like they could do with some more shooting from distance, but they are undoubtedly the best team in the world at the moment. I have no problems with my AC Milan losing to the best team in the world in the Champions League Quarter Finals.
We had a shot at going through to the semi-finals, we really did. Our players put up a great display of grit and character to prevent Barcelona from scoring at the San Siro. We came to Camp Nou to give it our best shot, but we were prevented, not by Barcelona, but by external factors. That is what I have a problem with.
Football is not played on paper, if it were, we could just crown Barcelona with every trophy there is. As I stated before, I have been a fan of AC Milan for 16 years and I've experienced being knocked out of a competition, even losing a Champions League final in which we had a 3-0 lead at halftime, I've been angry, but never this annoyed with my opponent (Apart from Dudek's "Spaghetti Legs" goalkeeping tactics in the 2005 CL final against Liverpool).
I do not feel we were robbed as Barcelona played better over both legs, however, it was expected that Barcelona would play better, and in a game where the only thing that counts are goals, Barcelona were awarded 2 penalty kicks, 1 of which should have NEVER been given in a match with such high stakes where a single goal would change the course of the game. The Champions League Quarter Finals is not the time or place to be setting a refereeing example for the world, shirt tugs and pulls happen before thousands and thousands of corner kicks in every league in the world.
Calling a penalty ...for a shirt tug.. when the ball was out of play. A simply ludicrous decision that one simply cannot, with a clear conscience agree with. This decision honestly robbed Milan of a fair fighting chance against the world's best team, and also robbed Barcelona of a possible deserved victory.
At 1-1, the game was in AC Milan's hands, all we wanted to do was defend , but the referee robbed us of that opportunity and decided that Barcelona should win this game.
It was disgusting seeing the Barcelona players pressure the referee into that decision, where's the glory and honor in that? It was pathetic seeing their manager justify it after the game. For the Greatest football team in the world to resort to diving, pressuring the referee, time wasting, and an unsporting winning at any cost mentality is simply needless and unfitting of their title.
I will never know what would've happened had that 2nd penalty not been called. Could we hold on for 50 more minutes? Even losing by 5 or 6 goals would have been easier than to go out like this.
If there are any true football fans who support Barcelona, they would not have wanted to win like this either as they will now need to deal with more controversial conspiracy theories surrounding their team.
Alas, what's done is done, an unfair match, and an unfair albeit deserved win for Barcelona (if that last line makes any sense)