European football offers the only chance for such a reunion, and over the years the draw has been unkind to Beckham’s wish to play against his old club. It was at the Old Trafford club that he made his name, propelled into the limelight in 1996 having scored a goal from his own half against Wimbledon. From then on there was not turning back for the former England captain.
But this is no normal coming together, Beckham is a Manchester United fan, and often refers to his former club as his "beloved ex". This will be the first time he has met any of his former clubs "I've never had to do this before, play against one of my old teams". Lining up against Man Utd he will have the chance to shake hands with old friends such as Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. Unfortunately for Beckham, Ryan Giggs will miss the first leg through injury but all going well should be available for the return leg at Old Trafford.
But there’s more to this game for Beckham than sentiment. It is fifteen years since he made his debut for Man Utd in the Champions League and this coming fixture will be his debut for AC Milan in the same competition. In the stand will be England manager Fabio Capello. It is well known Capello wants Beckham playing competitive soccer, and is not convinced MLS is a platform for this. Beckham understands this to well "you have to be playing with top players and be at the top of your fitness". One thing is for sure Beckham is a fiercely determined player. He has sustained a high performance level over many years and is a sportsman of unrivalled dedication. He has played for the three most glamorous clubs in the three most celebrated leagues, Manchester United, Real Madrid and now AC Milan. Many will see his time in the MLS as a blip.
Beckham will be out to prove he deserves a place in the England squad for South Africa. His problem will not be playing to a high standard on Tuesday but maintaining it for the remainder of season. He returned to the Milan team at the weekend with a win against Udinese, having been left on the bench for the Milan derby. Man Utd will most likely be the fresher team having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Leeds, they missed out on the weekends action.
But we can add more spice to this fixture it is also a celebration for AC Milan as they play their 100 match at the San Siro site. More importantly Manchester United have never won over two legs in European competition against AC Milan, so history is in Beckham’s favour to pull one over his old club. The return leg to his spiritual home Old Trafford will be high emotion for Beckham but he is at no odds to the games that are coming up "the United matches coming. Both are going to be tough, but I’m looking forward to it".
Of course this all relies on him playing. Milan favour a 4-3-3 system and should manager Leonardo prefer some of his players coming into form the front three could easily be Pato-Huntelaar and Ronaldinho, leaving Beckham in the midfield or on the bench. Either way the bottom line for Beckham and AC Milan is victory, this is the knock out stages so emotion and sentiment can't get in the way of the job to be done, which is to beat Manchester United.
May 1958 Eurpean Cup Semi Final
Man Utd 2-1 AC Milan
Man Utd 2-1 AC Milan
AC Milan 4-0 Man Utd
April/May 1969 European Cup Semi Final
AC Milan 2-0 Man Utd
Man Utd 1-0 AC Milan
February/March 2005 Champions League 2nd Round
Man Utd 0-1 AC Milan
AC Milan 1-0 Man Utd
April / May 2007 Champions League Semi Final
Man Utd 3-2 AC Milan
AC Milan 3-0 Man Utd
AC Milan have won all previous fixture against Man Utd. In 1969 and 2007 AC Milan went on to lift the trophy.
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