The first half was a siege. Not Palace's siege. Milan's. Montella had set up with a 4-2-3-1 that was effectively a 2-3-5; every outfield player pushed forward, the full-backs operating as wingers, the midfield abandoned in favour of bodies in the Palace box. The approach was not tactical. It was emotional. Milan were not trying to win seven-nil through structure. They were trying to win seven-nil through fury.
Palace absorbed it. The team talk held. Sakho and Tarkowski defended with the grim, professional, entirely unsentimental efficiency that the occasion required. Sakho headed everything.
Tarkowski kicked everything. Milivojević screened. McArthur tackled. The defensive shape, the compact, disciplined, Sarah-designed structure that had conceded one goal across two hundred and twelve minutes against Arsenal in the semi-final, held.
And Milan tried to break them. Not just with football. With everything I had warned them about.
