LONDON – In the end, the most significant contribution Ronaldo made to Inter Milan’s futile attempt to stay alive in the European Cup last night was his benching at the 60-minute mark.
Within three minutes of coming off the bench as Ronaldo’s replacement, Nicola Ventola gave his team hope with a goal that might have spelled salvation, but Manchester United always had the upper hand last night, and ultimately made that advantage pay off in a 1-1 draw and 3-1 victory on aggregate.
Under intense pressure to start the mercurial Ronaldo in a European Cup quarterfinal that was simply as intense as its gets, Inter coach Mircea Lucesucu kept ’em guessing right until kickoff time, then gave the Brazilian superstar the start. What he got in return, was the world’s No. 1 player – well, that is certainly arguable just now – performing at 20 percent of his capability.
Ronaldo isn’t the player he was, and, with those suspect knees, may never be the same again. When the 22-year-old made his fourth token impersonation of his former great self, Lucesucu did the only thing he could – he yanked him.
Ventola, eager and up for the challenge, paid dividends quickly, sticking to the task inside the area to latch on to a loose ball the Manchester defense had made a hash of attempting to clear. But then came the second significant switch, when Manchester coach Alex Ferguson introduced Paul Scholes for Henning Berg – switching an offense-oriented player for a defender who had been solid as a rock.
That could only mean Ferguson meant to kill off the contest, and within a matter of minutes, his masterstroke paid off, as red-headed Scholes latched on to a loose ball and slammed it hard and low into the middle of the Inter goal. Needing two goals to stay alive, Inter knew right there the contest was over.
Manchester rejoiced and Inter despaired, and after years of falling short on the verge of the final four, the English club has reached its holy grail – almost.
*
There are two matches still to win before mega-ambitious Manchester can crown itself Euro champion. There’s not a pushover among the survivors: Juventus, Dynamo Kiev and Bayern Munich.
Let’s start with Juventus, without whom no European Champs’ final would be complete. Last night’s 1-1 tie was a fine example of the team’s determination even when the cause is apparently lost, and that is why year after year, Juve makes the final cut.
Seven yellow cards, five on Juventus, were evidence of the hot tempers that overflowed in game two last night in Athens against Olympiakos Piraeus. Antonio Conte got the goal it needed for the 3-2 aggregate. Who’s to deny ’em from here?
Not Real Madrid, last year’s holder of the trophy, that’s for sure. Undone two weeks ago in a 1-1 tie by a last-minute lapse in defense that allowed dangerous Dynamo Kiev to grab a realistic chance of turning it around in game two. Madrid, a 2-0 loser last night, collapsed in the second half against arguably the scariest home crowd, 100,000 strong, in world soccer.
The fourth team is Bayern Munich, a 4-0 victor (6-0 aggregate) last night in game two against fellow German club Kaiserslautern.