Filippo Inzaghi the difference between Liverpool and Milan

Filed in archive Champions League on May 24, 2007

He may have been "born offside," and he may be the least popular man in Liverpool this week, but there's no doubt Filippo Inzaghi is a proper striker. His first goal on the stroke of half time was 99% luck, as the ball deflected off his shoulder (maybe even his arm) and past Reina. But it was 1% instinct, because he chose to run across the path of Pirlo's strike.

His second strike, heartbreakig though it was, was pure class. He timed his run to perfection to beat the Liverpool offside trap, and his touch to beat the incoming Reina from such a tight angle was little short of genius. Liverpool were the better team on the night, and Inzaghi will never get a free pint on Merseyside (unless he finds an Everton pub) but his goalscoring instinct was the difference between the two teams, and he has a Champions League winners medal to prove it.