Spanish giants humbled by Milan club 2-3 in Champions League thriller
Spanish giants humbled by Milan club 2-3 in Champions League thriller
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Emerging Brazilian star Alexandre Pato outshone compatriot Kaka scoring twice as AC Milan defeated Real Madrid 3-2 in a Group C Champions League match at a rain-soaked Santiago Bernabeu last night.
Kaka was the main attraction as he faced Milan for the first time since leaving the club for Real in the summer but it was the 20-year-old Pato, touted as his successor, who took the headlines scoring an 88th minute winner to inflict Real's first European defeat of the season as Milan joined Real on six points at the top of the group.
Real led through Raul's 19th goal following a terrible howler from Milan goalkeeper Dida, but Milan scored twice in four minutes through Andrea Pirlo (62) and Pato (64) to turn the game on its head.
Dutch midfielder Roysten Drenthe thought he was Real's saviour with a 76th minute equaliser to delight the fans who have often jeered him but Pato struck again in the dying minutes of the game with a clinical finish.
Real travel to Milan on November 3 for the next group match with Milan now slight favourites to win the group due to home advantage.
All eyes were on Kaka before kick-off as the Brazilian, a 65-million-euro capture from Milan, faced the club where he made his name before Milan's financial problems persuaded him to leave. With Cristiano Ronaldo, top-scorer in this season's Champions League, out injured Karim Benzema started alongside veteran Raul up front.
Real coach Manuel Pellegrini played down Ronaldo's absence.
"We need our best players and Cristiano (Ronaldo) is one of them but we didn't lose because he wasn't playing.
We lost because we made defensive mistakes and got punished by an experienced Milan team."
Other Champions League results
Chelsea 4 bt Atletico Madrid 0
Juventus 1 bt Maccabi Haifa 0
Wolfsburg 0 drew with Besiktas 0
Zurich 0 lost to Marseille 1
FC Porto 2 bt APOEL FC 1
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