AC MILAN V SAMPDORIA: A PREVIOUS MEETING

AC Milan v Sampdoria, lunch is served. It will be a midday start for the Rossoneri, with the fans at San Siro, as they play on a Sunday for their matchday 28 clash. First, however, we head back twelve years into the past to relive the events of 5 December  2009 at home against the Blucerchiati.

SETTING THE SCENE
We were coming towards the end of the girone d'andata, and 2010 was almost upon us. AC Milan, coached by Leonardo, were doing well in Serie A. After letting a lead slip in Naples, four consecutive victories got the Rossoneri back on track, including a sensational win over Catania in the previous match thanks to Huntelaar's brace deep into added time. The Brazilian coach, in his first job in the dugout, had Pirlo back in the team and chose Antonini instead of the unavailable Oddo. There was plenty of flair up top: Seedorf in behind Ronaldinho, Pato and Borriello.

23 MINUTES OF APPLAUSE
A lightning-fast start. One minute was enough time to break the deadlock in this game: a Ronaldinho cross "a la Ronaldinho" to set up Borriello's header - a common scoring combination in that period and in that season as a whole - to beat Castelazzi. The Rossoneri were flying and, in the 21st minute, they doubled their advantage. Assisted by guess who...that's right! Dinho again, only this time for Seedorf's superb left-footed strike to rasp the net under the crossbar. The Blucerchiati were under siege and, in the 23rd minute, it was 3-0 with Borriello's aerial effort after Pato's (double) deflection on the goal line. In a perfect first half, Alexandre himself had the opportunity to add a fourth and get his brace but was unable to put away an excellent chance, assisted by Abate (who came on for an injured Ronaldinho).

NEVER IN DOUBT
It was easy going in the second half for the Rossoneri, who never looked in trouble. The Sampdoria team, led by a strike partnership of Cassano and Pazzini, even after a rest couldn't get anything going and never threatened Dida's goal. They remained at the mercy of the Diavolo, who on a couple of occasions flirted with the idea of increasing their lead, spurred on mainly by an unstoppable Pato. At the final whistle, the celebration erupted following the victory. The Rossoneri were back in second place with 31 points on the board at the end of the 15th matchday and closing the gap on leaders Inter after their huge match against Juve in Turin. Long story short, it was a Saturday to be remembered. At the end of that Serie A campaign, AC Milan finished third in the table, achieving Champions League qualification, just ahead of Sampdoria.

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