Nesta admits she had nightmares after the final with Liverpool
Former Milan defender denied that the team were celebrating at half-time, but said that the hours and days that followed were very difficult for the players
Italian legend Alessandro Nesta shared interesting stories about his career as he gave an extensive interview to former teammate Luca Toni. The former Lazio and Milan defender is currently coach of Monza , the club he has returned to after a brief stint – he was sacked in December last year.
«The year I went to Milan , Real Madrid wanted to sign me, but I said no because I wanted to stay at Lazio . Then Milan called, and Lazio were falling apart. My first four months were horrible. I had difficulty distancing myself from Rome. When I realized where I was, I rolled up my sleeves. In my first season at San Siro, we won the Champions League and the Coppa Italia,” Nesta told Amazon Prime Video Italia.
The Rossoneri triumphed in the Champions League in 2003 after beating Juventus on penalties. «Nobody slept the night before, because if you lose to Manchester United , nobody tells you anything, but if you lose to Juventus … Paolo Maldini and Andrea Pirlo were terribly nervous. It was a bad game for me, there were few goal opportunities and we ended up going to penalties.»
«Before that, I had only taken one penalty, and that was in the juniors. Some were limping, others didn’t feel prepared. Initially, the coach pretended he didn’t see me, but after so many players gave up… I surprised Buffon, because I kicked the ball with my fingers. I was prepared to wait until the last second, but Buffon didn’t move. I didn’t have a plan B and just kicked the ball, but it worked,” shared Alessandro.
Nesta also spoke about the two consecutive Champions League finals against Liverpool . In Istanbul in 2005, Milan were leading 3-0 at half-time but eventually lost on penalties. Two years later, the Rossoneri won 2-1.
“It’s not true that we celebrated in the locker room at half-time. Some idiot on the other team said that, I don’t even know his name. It was actually quite tense, we knew we still had a long way to go. Steven Gerrard kept Liverpool in the game. He was an animal back then, he was everywhere in the field. After the game, no one said a word in the locker room, no one dared. We went to dinner with our families and there was total silence. All through the following summer, I woke up thinking that this couldn’t possibly have happened,” he explained, admitting that he had nightmares.
“But when we faced each other again, we told ourselves that the game could not end the same way. It was fate. We were confident that we would win. In fact, we played worse than in the previous final, but we were more solid and we believed we would win. Pippo Inzaghi could barely stand due to muscular problems. Alberto Gilardino was in excellent form, but the coach had that intuition that leads you to triumph in the Champions League. He knew that Pippo, even in poor form, could score goals. Kaká was in incredible shape. We were sure we would win. Even Liverpool knew, it was obvious,” added Nesta
The former defender also spoke about the last years of his career and the problems he had after hanging up his boots: «After an operation and needing painkillers twice a day, my body told me that it was over. That year I played twice against Lionel Messi ‘s Barcelona , but I knew that a year later he would destroy me if we met again. Milan offered me a contract for another year, but I refused . I’m a defender, I have to chase the opponents. It’s harder for an attacker to realize that he’s reached the end. After I retired, every day seemed the same. My wife was a saint for putting up with me. I was lacking adrenaline and I needed competition. I had to return to football and the only way was as a coach”, he said, explaining this new step in his career.
