27/10/2000 Last transfers .....

The final round of the transfer market saw Milan involved in the following transactions:

• Luca Saudati from Milan to Perugia on loan
• Julio Cesar from Real Madrid to Milan on loan
• Piercarlo Bignamini from Pro Patria to Milan
• Alessio Sarti from Parma to Milan
• Gianluca Zanetti from Parma to Milan
• Alessio Sarti from Milan to Ravenna

As expected Luca Saudati was transferred to his desired destination Perugia. Milan have upheld their right to take the player back at their request. Milan also signed from Real Madrid, the Brasilian with Spanish passport Julio Cesar. The promising 22 year old defender is on loan with Milan till June 2001. However, Milan have the right to keep the player against an already set fee of 20 miliardi of Italian lire.

24/10/2000 Milan qualify for next round

Besiktas 0 Milan 2

Shevchenko 39th min. Jose Mari 43rd min

Besiktas: 1-Ike Shorunmu; 2-Miroslav Karhan, 3-Tayfur Havutcu, 4-Ali Eren Beserler (17-Erman Guracar 45), 7-Ahmet Dursun, 8-Nihat Kahveci, 10-Mehmet Ozdilek (18-Ayhan Akman 71), 11-Marcus Munch, 14-Umit Bozkurt, 16-Dmitry Khlestov (19-Ibrahim Uzulmez 45), 28-Yasin Sulun

Milan: 32-Dida, 25-Roque Junior,3-Paolo Maldini, 4-Demetrio Albertini, 5-Alessandro Costacurta, 8-Gennaro Gattuso (2-Thomas Helveg 83), 7-Andriy Shevchenko,11-Jose Mari (27-Serginho 87), 20-Oliver Bierhoff (10-Zvonimir Boban 71), 23-Massimo Ambrosini, 77-Francesco Coco

Milan did what they had to do and qualified by beating Besiktas 2-0 in Turkey, something neither Leeds nor barcellona could manage. Shevchenko opened the scoring in the 39th minute with Jose Mari adding the second four minutes later. This time Milan did not squander their two goal advantage and took home a very important victory.

More in the news page.

Saudati set for Perugia

Luca Saudati will be joining Perugia probably this week. The player will be transferred for a loan period of one year with the Serie A club.

Helveg / Baggio exchange

Thomas Helveg may be exchanged for unsettled Parma midfielder Dino Baggio in the coming weeks.

20/10/2000 Milan squander two goal lead

Milan 2 Juventus 2

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Ambrosini 57th min., Shevchenko 59th min. Trezeguet 66th min., Conte 91st min.

Milan: Christian Abbiati; Roque Junior, Alessandro Costacurta, Paolo Maldini; Genanro Gattuso, Demetrio Albertini, Massimo Ambrosini, Andres Guglielminpietro (dal 46' Coco); Zvonimir Boban (75' Federico Giunti); Oliver Bierhoff, Andryi Shevchenko.

Manager: Alberto Zaccheroni.

Juventus: Edwin van der Sar; Igor Tudor, Marco Zanchi, Mark Iuliano; Gianluca Pessotto (69' Alessandro Birindelli), Alessio Tacchinardi (65' Antonio Conte), Edgar Davids, Johnatan Bachini; Zinedine Zidane; Filippo Inzaghi, Alessandro Del Piero (64' David Trezeguet).

Manager: Carlo Ancelotti.

Marcatori: Ambrosini 57' (M), Shevchenko 59' (M), Trezeguet 66' (J), Conte 90' (J). Referee: Stefano Braschi of Prato

Yellow cards: Davids, Costacurta, Guglielminpietro.

Milan squandered a two goal lead to end up with only one point in a match which saw Juventus dominate the first half and Milan the second.

The match was a very good encounter with both sides doing their very utmost to win the match. Milan were unlucky to hit the post with a Boban header in the first half but came out of the dressing room determined to score and win all three points. After taking a two goal lead from two headers in two minutes from Ambrosini and Shevchenko, Milan suffered a soft Trezeguet goal, also from a header and suffered the consequences. Both teams looked visibly tired after their champions league encounters but it was Conte who in the 96th minute equalised with a shot from just outside the area.

More in the news page.

20/10/2000 Karagounis ..... could be joining Milan

Milan have reportedly signed Greek left winger Karagounis of Panathinaikos. The player will join Milan next June 2000. Juventus had been interested in the player before they moved on to Athirson instead.

Ba set for man. United

Ibrahim Ba is set to join Manchester United together with the former Milan full back Panucci. It seems that the clubs have had some talks recently about this transfer.

Donati is a Milan player

The president of Atalanta, Ivan Ruggeri has confirmed to the press that the U21 international Donati will soon be joining Milan. The player already belongs to Milan according to Ruggeri.

Full house again !!!!!

The stadium tickets sales offices will again be closed today for the second time in 4 days, when the team plays Juventus at home in front of another capacity crowd of around 81,000.

18th October, 2000

Great football at the San Siro

Champions League Milan 3 Barcellona 3

Rivaldo 19th min., Albertini 26th min, Albertini 39th min, Rivaldo 43rd min., Jose Mari 45th min., Rivaldo 65th min.

Milan: Christian Abbiati; Roque Junior, Alessandro Costacurta, Paolo Maldini; Gennaro Gattuso, Demetrio Albertini, Massimo Ambrosini, Francesco Coco; Andriy Shevchenko, Oliver Bierhoff, Jose' Mari (68' Zvonimir Boban).

Barcellona: Richard Dutruel; Carles Puyol, Abelardo, Emmanuel Petit (25' Michael Reiziger), Sergi; Philip Cocu (46' Ronald De Boer), Xavi, Luis Enrique, Simao Sabrosa; Rivaldo, Alfonso (63' Dani).

Referee: Hugh Dallas (Scotland).

Yellow Cards: Albertini (M), Maldini (M), Rivaldo (B), Costacurta (M), Abelardo (B), Victor (B), Luis Enrique (B).

A Rivaldo hatrick saw Milan unable to gather all three points at the San Siro against a very good Barcellona side. Rivaldo excelled in the match with a hatrick and Milan never managed to grasp his skills to be able to mark him properly. Coco, Maldini and Roque Junior all striggled to mark the Brazilian who only proved that he is the world's best player. His first strike came directly from a free-kick which saw Milan's wall jump, only for Rivaldo to slot it from under the same wall and into the corner of the net. Abertini then equalised with a 30 metre shot from well outside the area to beat Dutruel for the equaliser. Albertini then shot Milan into the lead with a perfectly taken free kick into the corner of the net. Rivaldo again equalised with a free kick that saw the ball being saved by Abbiati off the post only to hit our keeper's back and roll into the net. Jose Mari then put Milan 3-2 ahead after Bierhoff's shot was saved by Dutruel. The Spaniard pounced on the rebound to put the rossoneri in front.

The second half was played at a fast pace as well and Rivaldo managed to evade maldini to score with a headed goal from a Sergi cross.

Milan played a good match but at times seemed tired with barcellona looking fresher and calmer in midfield. Milan and Leeds still lead the table with 7 points each. Barcellona and besiktas have 4 points.

15th October , 2000

Serie A - Milan lose to Bologna in last shot of the match.

Bologna 2 Milan 1

Bia 20th min, Shevchenko 62nd min., Piacentini 95th min.

Bologna: Pagliuca; Falcone, Bia, Castellini; Nervo, Lima, Olive (73' Piacentini), Wome; Locatelli; Cruz (50' Oliveira, 81' Goretti), Signori.

Manager: Guidolin.

Milan: Abbiati; Sala, Costacurta, Roque Junior; Guly (46' Boban), Gattuso, Giunti, Ambrosini (92' Helveg), Coco; Jose' Mari (79' Albertini), Schevchenko.

Manager: Zaccheroni.

Referee: Tombolini of Ancona.

Notes: Red Card Giunti (75'). Yellow Cards: Cruz, Nervo, Wome, Roque Junior

Milan's luck just ran out with a 95th minute shot by Piacentini from well outside the area with only seconds left. Piacentini might have also controlled the ball with his hands but his shot was unstoppable for Abbiati.

Milan played a good solid match but after Bia put Bologna ahead in the 20th minute it seemed that the match was an uphill struggle. Shevchenko missed a good opportunity towards the end of the half but made up for it with a headed goal midway throught th esecond half. It was yet another Giunti cross from the left that found Shevchenko beating two Bologna defenders to beat Pagliuca from close range.

Zaccheroni had problems in defence with Roque Junior and Sala having to replace the injured Maldini and Chamot. Albertini and Bierhoff were given a rest for next Wednesday's more important clash against Barcellona and Milan paid the price. Giunti was then sent off and Bologna forced Milan into a defensive position. Towards the end of the match Sheva and Albertini had the opportunity to close the match in Milan's favour but Pagliuca produced a miraculous save. In the end came Piacentini's spectacular goal which sank Milan.

14/10/2000 Maldini and Chamot injured.

Both Maldini and Chamot had to give in to injuries for the match against Bologna.

8/10/2000 Milan after new players.....

Milan are eyeing a number of players across Europe. Vannucchi is being observed in Italy, whilst beto is the target in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon. Another interesting player being spied by Milan is Romanian U-21 Cursaro who has already been termed the new Van Basten. Another player is Brett Emerton the Australian who made such a good impression in the Olympic games.

6/10/2000 Maldini plays match 113 for Italy

Maldini broke the all Italina record by playing match 113 with the blue shirt of Italy. Coco also played his debut game in the 3-0 win against Romania.

Ibrahim Ba gets 33

Ibrahim Ba has reunited with the Milan squad and got the number 33 shirt from Aliyu who moved to Monza.

3/10/2000 Redondo out for 6 months

Redondo, the Argentine ex Real madrid midfielder, has not even played a single game for Milan and is now out for 6 months. Surgery to his right knee was performed today.

1/10/2000 Serie A

Milan 2 Vicenza 0

Scorers: Bierhoff 15th min.., Shevchenko 84th min.

Milan (3-4-3) 12 Abbiati; 19 Chamot, 5 Costacurta, 3 Maldini; 8 Gattuso, 4 Albertini, 23 Ambrosini (dal 1' s.h. Giunti), 77 Coco; 18 Leonardo (dal 22' s.h. Guly), 20 Bierhoff (dal 41' s.h. Comandini), 7 Shevckenko.

Subs: Dida, 25 Roque Junior, 2 Helveg, 24 Guly, 9 Comandini, 41 Saudati

Manager Zaccheroni

Vicenza (4-4-2) 1 Sterchele; 6 Cardone, 13 Marco Aurelio, 5 Di Cara, 13 Comotto; 16 Rossi, 15 Longo, 26 Crovari, 21 Zauli; 30 Toni, 2 Kallon (dal 12' s.h. Luiso).

Subs 22 Santarelli, 20 Tomas, 11 Beghetto, 10 Viviani, 8 Bernardini, 35 Maggio, 32 Luiso).

Manager Reja

Referee: Braschi of Prato Note: Corners 9-4 for Milan

Yellow cards Comotto, Di Cara, Zauli all Vicenza, Gattuso and Ambrosini for Milan

Milan again played a good match against newly promoted Vicenza. Milan took an early lead through a Bierhoff header after only 16th minutes and never gave chance for Vicenza to get back into the match. The Gattuso cross from the right found three Milan players ready to head home but it was Bierhoff who ended up just nodding the ball home after Leonardo and Shevchenko both missede the chance.

In the second half Vicenza could hardly go over the half way mark at times but Milan failed to close up the encounter until the last few minutes when Giunti found Shevchenko who splendidly headed home his first of the serie A this season.

The match was played on a difficult slippery pitch which made ball control difficult. It seems that our forward line Bierhoff / Shevchenko have also started on the right track with two great goals. Coco also maintained his good form with continous runs and crosses from the left.

• First half
• 1': Coco low cross, ball hits Bierhoff and a defender, the German is anticipated by Sterchele.
• 3': Toni races towards goal, Costacurta brings him down at the limit of the area. Free kick forl Vicenza. Zauli's shot no problem for Abbiati.
• 7': Vicenza counter attack, Toni tried the through pass for Kallon, too long. Abbiati covers the ball on the ground.
• 10': Albertini free kick ont he right, Coco rises above all even though held, but his header is too central.
• 15': Milan take the lead. Gattuso cross form the right, after a corner, Sterchele misses the ball and Bierhoff, behind Shevchenko and Ambrosini, nods home without even having to jump.
• 17': Comotto shown yellow card for foul on Leonardo.
• 18': Albertini free kick for a foul on Leonardo, Coco heads surely towards goal but a defender clears the ball off the line for a corner.
• 20': cross from the right, Toni heads towards Abbiati but our keeper saves without difficulty.
• 23': Toni again runs towards goal but Ambrosini catches him and downs him to get a yellow card.
• 31': Rossi dangerous cross for Vicenza from the right but Abbiati anticipates Toni just in time.
• 35': Slowest part of the match, even due to the heaviness of the pitch due to the rain..
• 40': Maldini-Leonardo move on the left, with low cross for Shevchenko, Sterchele anticipates the move.
• 42': Vicenza close for the second time, cross by Rossi from the right, Zauli flies to head home but Abbiati makes a superb save in two touches.
• 43': Milan answer back with a run and subsequent cross from Coco from the left. Sterchele punches to corner.
• 45': Albertini finds Shevchenko, the ball gains speed on the wet surface making it easy for Sterchele to save.
• Second half
• 1': Zaccheroni changes Giunti for Ambrosini. Albertini free kick, Coco header and great Sterchele save to corner.
• 2': Leonardo finds Shevchenko in open space , good run from the Ukranian. Di Cara has no alternative but to down him and gets the yellow card.
• 10': Sheva controls back to the posts, turns and shoots but Sterchele saves to corner.
• 15': Gattuso and Zauli both get yellow cards for a brawl in midfield.
• 19': Toni gets away, Longo shoots from outside the area, ball is deflected to corner which the referee never sees.
• 20': Vicenza again dangerous, with a Rossi from the right of the area with Abbiati saving to corner.
• 22': Guly comes in for a tired Leonardo,who is far from his best form.
• 25': Bierhoff touches back to Albertini, whose shot, is deflected falls slowly to Sterchele.
• 26': Cardone cross for Luiso, his header however is not dangerous.
• 27': Bernardini comes in for Longo in Vicenza.
• 38': Milan score their second goal: Giunti cross from the left and Shevchenko heads home anticipating the defender placing the ball perfectly in Sterchele's left low corner.
• 41': Comandini comes in for Bierhoff.
• 45': Guly on the right, enters the area and falls when he hits an opponent. referee waves play on.