Though Figo dumped the Italian on his backside with his first foray, he never went past him again. Pessotto’s intense concentration, as Figo tried to twist and turn him in the penalty box, was a lesson to all defenders. Not once did he dive in, each time Figo was forced to retreat and pass backwards.With Alessandro Birindelli moving to right-back, the change also enabled Lippi to withdraw Mark Iuliano, whose limitations had been thoroughly exposed by Ronaldo, and move Lilian Thuram into the centre. There he showed that the promising Javier Portillo, who had come on for Ronaldo, still has a lot to learn.One reason Iuliano was substituted was that he was heading for a dismissal.

He was the second of five Juventus players cautioned by Hauge, whose calm and unfussy handling underlined the quality of much of the officiating in the Champions’ League. He was unobtrusive but firm and dealt well with the late controversy when three players were flagged offside as Roberto Carlos drove in Real’s winner. The three were “passive”, not being in Gianluigi Buffon’s line of sight, and he was right to allow the goal.Hauge’s ability to do this was a result of the Fifa ruling clarifying, in attackers’ favour, who is, and is not, “interfering with play”. Credit to Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, and his then football advisor, Michel Platini, for this. However Platini, who was at the Bernabeu, will have been less pleased to see how another initiative has been diluted.

Not so long ago Iuliano would have been dismissed for the brutal challenge that precipitated Ronaldo’s premature exit, a lunge from behind with no apparent intent to play the ball. Dispensing red cards for such tackles has, however, gone out of fashion.The booking Iuliano received brought to 31, plus one red, the tally of yellow cards Juventus have received in this season’s competition Real have received 13. Encouraging such behaviour is one element of Lippi’s management which cannot be lauded.. Following last night’s engaging goalless draw at San Siro, the good folk of Milan will have to wait another six days to find out which of their two clubs will travel to Old Trafford to contest the Champions’ League final. Even more frustrating for the supporters of Milan and Internazionale is the fact that neither side can yet be crowned kings of the city. Lucky us.”It was a much more open game than I thought it would be,” said the Milan coach, Carlo Ancelotti.

“The tie is still wide open and both managers will feel their glass is half-full.”So much for catenaccio. All the pre-match talk had centred on the notion that this was going to be the ultimate clash in styles: the gracious and elegant Milan on one side; the tough and gritty Inter on the other. It took less than five minutes to realise that such labels were some way off the mark.Indeed, San Siro may have been Milan’s from an official point of view last night, but much of the match itself belonged to Inter. No matter that the Nerazzurri had fewer than 11,000 of their supporters to cheer them on, Hector Cuper’s men played with great control and no shortage of invention.”Considering what was at stake, I thought we were excellent,” said their Argentinian coach. “On another night, we might even have nicked it.”Hernan Crespo was no more than a boot away from turning in Sergio Conceic?s cross-cum-shot after two minutes while Alvaro Recoba shot straight at Dida moments later. Milan’s only half-chance came after 12 minutes, when Andrei Shevchenko attempted to lob Francesco Toldo from the left side of the Inter box, but it takes more than that to beat the experienced Italy keeper.Inter’s two hard-working banks of four continued to frustrate Milan thereafter, and it said everything about their first-half performance that San Siro was strangely quiet for long periods.