ExtraFootie's Rolly Pelovangu looks back on a sensational night at the Santiago Bernabeu where an Alexandre Pato-inspired AC Milan side triumphed 3-2 over Real Madrid in a classic!

Real Madrid v AC Milan is the sort of clash that can warm up any football fan on a cold night in October and this encounter did more than warm up Europe, it left us burning with joy at the extraordinary quality (and mistakes) on show.

Going into the match few dared bet against a home win following the trials and tribulations at the San Siro this season, which has seen the Rossoneri humbled on their own patch by FC Zurich and struggle in Serie A.

Real set their stall out to attack in expectation of victory, but they wilfully forgot that given time and space, the Milan frontline containing the likes of Ronaldinho - who had one of his better games - Seedorf and Pato can inflict serious damage on the counter.

In fact, Brazilian starlet Pato, a true superstar in the making, chased every loose ball with dogged enthusiasm and Real's shaky backline found 'The Duck' a handful for the whole 90 minutes and then some.

It's a well-known fact that goals change games and had someone said at half-time that Leonardo's men would win 3-2, they would have been laughed out of the 80,000 capacity Bernabeu.

Los Blancos as a whole did not do enough to press the Rossoneri and played at a tempo the visitors would have enjoyed - slow, sluggish, predictable and un-unified as a team, their candid shortcomings were brutally exposed.

Without Cristiano Ronaldo the team suddenly looks 60 per cent weaker in attack. So important is the 24-year-old to the Galactico machine that the Spanish press have coined the term ‘Ronaldodependencia’, or a dependency on Ronaldo.

Ex-Milan playmaker Kaka, who joined Real in a £59million deal in the summer, appeared to try too hard and had his avenue down the middle of the park firmly shut-out by Massimo Ambrosini.

Credit must go to under-fire coach Leonardo who before the match did not rule out the possibility of going "all-out attack."

And while he didn't adopt that approach, he instead balanced the best of Italian football with a laborious effort at the back coupled with ruthless efficiency up-top - three attacks and three goals is testament to that.

"Beyond the choices made by the coaches, this was a victory that was achieved through the collective spirit of the squad. Tonight we found the right way to channel our determination," he told Italian Sports channel Rai.

Real Madrid's atrocious record against Italian teams continues having lost their last five meetings against Serie A's finest, including two defeats to Juventus and Roma in the last two seasons respectively.

Once upon a time going to the Bernabeu sent shivers down your spine, now teams go there knowing they can score goals and win, as yet again Manuel Pellegrini’s men’s shortcomings were made stark.

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