Milan may watch next year's league from the sidelines after loss to Arsenal

The Associated Press ,  Milan   |  Wed, 03/05/2008 6:14 PM  |  Headlines

After being eliminated by Arsenal in the Champions League's first knockout round on Tuesday, defending champion AC Milan runs the risk of not making it back for next year's tournament.

The Rossoneri are in fifth place in Italy's Serie A and unless they can move up a spot in the table they will be watching next season's games from the couch, pub or clubhouse.

Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor scored late to give Arsenal a 2-0 win and a spot in the quarterfinals.

It was the first time Milan, the seven-time champion which had reached the quarterfinals for the past five seasons, had lost to an English team at San Siro.

"This is not the end of a cycle, the cycle will continue as long as the presidency of (Silvio) Berlusconi continues," Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "We played against a strong team that played better than us. Now we have another objective, fourth place and we will try to get there with determination."

Berlusconi, a former Italian prime minister and the leader of the center right coalition in Italy's elections next month, said Ancelotti would "absolutely" remain.

Arsenal qualified 2-0 on aggregate after the two teams drew 0-0 in the first leg in London two weeks ago.

"There are no regrets," Ancelotti said. "There are regrets when you could have done more, but they didn't allow us to. Both sides did their best and we have to accept the loss and move on."

Fabregas scored with a long bouncing shot from outside the area in the 84th minute that beat Milan goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac. The ball may have deflected off the arm of Milan defender Alessandro Nesta.

Adebayor fired in from close range in injury time off a right cross into the box.

In its 11 previous home games against English teams, Milan had won seven and drawn four, including a 2-0 win over Arsenal in the 1994 UEFA Super Cup.

Milan has 43 points in Serie A, four less than fourth-place Fiorentina. Milan's city rival Inter Milan leads the league with 61 points and is followed by Roma with 55 and Juventus with 48.

Arsenal leads the English Premier League by one point ahead of Manchester United. The Gunners had not won in four matches, including the first-leg draw with Milan and a 4-0 FA Cup loss to Man United.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger said his plan to use Fabregas and Mathieu Flamini to contain Kaka worked to perfection.

"We decided not to give him time on the ball and it turned out that we decided well," Wenger said.

Milan started the game at a high tempo, pressing in defense and creating several good chances inside the first 25 minutes.

Alexandre Pato dribbled around three players in the eighth minute, but then shot over the crossbar. In the 19th, Kaka went on a long dribbling run before passing to Pato, who hit a soft shot straight to goalkeeper Manuel Alumnia.

But Arsenal soon got back into the game. Adebayor's powerful shot in the 28th was tipped over the bar by Kalac, and Fabregas hit the bar from just outside the area six minutes later.

Arsenal midfielder Aleksandr Hleb was cautioned in the 33rd for imitation just outside the area, although it appeared that he had been fouled from behind.

In the 75th, Kalac made a sliding save with his legs on a close-range shot by Theo Walcott, who'd come on as a substitute four minutes earlier.

Milan fielded an attack of Filippo Inzaghi and the 18-year-old Pato, with Kaka just behind the strikers after missing the last few league games with a knee injury. Alberto Gilardino came on in the 69th for Inzaghi, but was unable to spark the Milan attack.

The Rossoneri had to do without Clarence Seedorf - who had played in all the previous Champions League games this year - while Arsenal was without striker Eduardo de Silva who broke his leg last month.

Other results:

Manchester United 1, Lyon 0 (first leg 1-1). Manchester United advanced to quarterfinals 2-1 on aggregate.

Barcelona 1, Glasgow Rangers 0 (first leg 3-2). Barcelona won 4-2 on aggregate.

Sevilla 3, Fenerbahce 2 (first leg 2-3). Fenerbahce won 3-2 on penalties.

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