Opinion | AC Milan v Manchester United on US tour is as close to Champions League glory days as Serie A giants can dream of

There were 37 minutes to kick-off when Gennaro Gattuso charged alone onto San Siro’s wet turf, his presence nearly lifting the space-age roof in one of football’s most iconic venues, sparking a roar from 70,000.

Milan, with football’s best player Kaka, had lost the first leg 3-2 at Old Trafford but United’s players admitted in private that Kaka had killed them.

Going into the second leg, United were carrying injuries and missing key players, but Sir Alex Ferguson saw things differently. He felt United had let Kaka play in the first leg and expected better.

But, despite Ferguson’s optimism, United lost 3-0 and were so outclassed by Kaka and Gattuso that the Italian media questioned the pre-match buzz around Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

Milan went to the final and Kaka surged ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo to become favourite to win the Ballon d’Or.