INTERVIEW

Times report
27 October , 1999

AC MILAN 1 CHELSEA 1

Group H


CHELSEA took a giant leap towards the next stage of the European Cup Champions' League last night when they came from behind to secure a dramatic and well-earned draw in the cauldron of the San Siro. They gave AC Milan a lesson in technique and determination to earn a result that leaves them needing only a point against Hertha Berlin at Stamford Bridge next week to join even more exalted company.

The draw was a triumph for Gianluca Vialli, returning to the stadium where he has been despised so heartily for so long, and for his compatriots in exile, Gianfranco Zola and Roberto Di Matteo. The Chelsea manager produced a side last night that was a formidable mix of the best of the English and Italian games and proved that Chelsea may yet grow to be a force in this competition this season.

It seemed for two agonising minutes as though all might have been lost when Oliver Bierhoff, the Germany centre forward, scored with a point-blank header a quarter of an hour from the end, but Dennis Wise struck a fine equaliser to finish off Chelsea's next attack and leave Milan facing elimination from the competition they dominated so gracefully just a few years ago.

When the final whistle went, the Chelsea players flung their arms into the air in exultation. Their supporters sang and danced in their section of the stadium for an hour after the end. The fact that Galatasaray beat Hertha 4-1 in Germany means that Chelsea go joint top of group H. Both Hertha and Chelsea now each only need a point to qualify and a draw appears the most likely outcome when the Germans come to London next Wednesday.

"We were the better team and we created our chances by playing good football," Vialli said. "Our reaction to going behind was magnificent and the players showed great character by coming back from a goal down at the San Siro. It was a difficult task to get a point here and we have done it, but it is not over yet. We still need another point, which means another battle next week. Then, we can celebrate.

"After the way we played tonight, I'm optimistic we can get that point. We have got to keep making progress and to go through would be a great achievement for the club in terms of money, image and the confidence of the players. Wisey deserved his goal because he has had a difficult time since he was sent off at Liverpool."

Before the game, it was not Wise but Vialli and Marcel Desailly who came in for most attention from the red-and-black hordes massed on the Curva Nord. They jeered and whistled their disdain when they heard the mention of Vialli, the player they loved to hate when he played here for Sampdoria and Juventus. When it was the turn of Desailly, though, they cheered as if he was still one of their own.

Desailly was a favourite here when he played alongside men such as Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi and George Weah and his affection for the city and the stadium has endured, too. When they chanted his name during the pre-match warm-up, Desailly ran towards them and applauded them, pointing at his heart to show that he still loved them.

If they were expecting charity, Desailly showed them none. He had raised his game to heights that the Chelsea supporters had not hitherto seen when the Italian champions visited Stamford Bridge last month, and last night he looked once more every bit the formidable defender he had appeared during the World Cup.

Nor was he alone. Chelsea began superbly. They made Milan look nervous and shoddy, a wreck of misplaced passes and clumsy ploys. Tore Andre Flo and Zola were a blur of movement in attack, Wise was an excellent prompter, Frank Leboeuf read the game as easily as a children's book and Albert Ferrer was efficiency personified.

They nearly made their supremacy pay in the third minute, when Christian Abbiati spilt Flo's low shot but grabbed it just before Dan Petrescu could pounce. Petrescu should have scored four minutes later, after Wise and Flo had worked the ball across the area to him, but he hit his shot too close to Abbiati, who stuck out his right foot and deflected it to safety. Milan had another near-escape midway through the half when Flo, stretching at the back post to meet Wise's low cross, could only hoist his left-foot shot high over the crossbar.

Reprieved, the home side gradually began to drag themselves into the match. Andriy Shevchenko struck a rasping free kick bending around the Chelsea wall and just wide of Ed de Goey's right-hand post and, in the 25th minute, the Ukraine forward rose above Ferrer to meet a free kick from Serginho, but his header cannoned off the outside of a post.

Chelsea, who had been forced to bring on Jody Morris for the flu-ridden Petrescu, ventured forward less frequently now but they still missed a clear chance to take the lead in the 74th minute when Wise picked out Poyet with a pinpoint cross, but the Uruguayan could only head the ball straight at Abbiati.

Chelsea paid for their profligacy immediately. Milan worked the ball to the other end and, when it was fed out to Serginho on the left flank, he crossed for Bierhoff, who had manoeuvred in front of Leboeuf. Bierhoff gave Poyet a lesson in finishing, powering in his header from six yards off the body of De Goey.

Chelsea refused to let their heads drop and two minutes later they were level. The first contribution of Di Matteo, who had replaced Poyet, was to chip a lovely ball over the Milan defence into the path of Wise. The captain kept his composure and slid the ball under Abbiati, as he rushed out to meet him, and into the corner of the net.

AC MILAN (3-4-3): C Abbiati - A Costacurta, R Ayala, P Maldini - Guly, G Gattuso, M Ambrosini, Serginho - A Shevchenko, O Bierhoff, Leonardo. Substitutes not used: S Rossi, T Helveg, Z Boban, D De Ascentis, P Orlandini, B N'Gotty, L Sala. Booked: Ambrosini, Ayala, Leonardo, Costacurta.

CHELSEA (4-4-2): E de Goey - A Ferrer, F Leboeuf, M Desailly, C Babayaro - D Petrescu (sub: J Morris, 46min), D Deschamps, D Wise, G Poyet (sub: R Di Matteo, 75) - T A Flo, G Zola (sub: G Ambrosetti, 81). Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, J Hogh, C Sutton, B Lambourde. Booked: Zola, Ferrer.

Referee: N Levnikov (Russia).