Their contrasting routes through the group stage of the
Champions League – United's free-wheeling, Milan's ponderous –
suggest as much, and yet a conviction is crystallising among the
Rossoneri that such an imbalance of power will count for
nothing in a knockout contest.
David Beckham, as the one man here to have bridged both camps,
is its leading advocate. Beckham gives support, in one sense, to
the traditional if hackneyed criticism of Milan: that they are too
old, too reliant on a small cabal of long-serving players, to be
competitive at the highest level.
At 34, he is forced to listen to claims that he is past his
best, and is almost certain to be on the bench on Tuesday to make
way for such in-form fliers as Alexandre Pato and Amantino
Mancini.
But five games into his second spell of wearing Milan's No 32
jersey, Beckham has the perspective to discern the change in this
team, the shift from a deference to Paolo Maldini – the talismanic
captain who retired last summer aged 40 – to an investment in
youthful flair, as exemplified by exciting Dutch centre-forward
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
"Paolo and a couple of characters who were here last time are
not around, but there's a great team spirit within the club,"
Beckham said. "That has definitely not changed. We're just as
strong and when we play well, we're a very good team."
The positive dynamic between Beckham and Ronaldinho, the one
rival to the England midfielder for star quality, was plain to see
as Milan carved out a 3-2 win over Udinese on Friday night to
arrest a slide in their domestic results.
Their visionary passes provide Milan's main avenue of attack
this season in an ambitious 4-3-3 system.
"He played really well," Beckham said of the Brazilian. "It was
important we won, considering we hadn't won in the last three."
Beckham acknowledges that Wayne Rooney is more than a match for
Ronaldinho for the title of the world's best striker, but realises
Milan have an added dimension in the shape of Pato.
The club's beloved "duck" (the literal translation of Pato from
Portuguese) has scored the type of goals recently to draw the envy
of all Europe. His arcing volley at the Bernabeu to beat Real
Madrid was sumptuous; his solo goal against Udinese following an
inspired surge from midfield equally so.
Leonardo, Milan's smooth-talking manager, betrays an eerie
confidence in how his team measure up against United.
"Sincerely, I think we have a lot of important players," he
said. "We're lucky we can choose from a lot of players like that:
Beckham, Ronaldinho, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo.
"We talk a lot about Ronaldinho. He had some problems in the
last few years, but he demonstrates that he's still a very good
player. He is very important to us – he is changing our
identity."
The one area where Milan's identity needs no immediate change is
the midfield, anchored by the peerless Andrea Pirlo. Still only 30,
it feels like this creative force of nature has been around for
decades, and he has similarly vast experience on which to draw
either side of him, in Clarence Seedorf and Massimo Ambrosini. Paul
Scholes, by comparison, is in his twilight.
Beckham still refuses to accept that he has entered any such
decline and there remains a chance, while slim, that Leonardo could
reward his formidable work ethic with a start on Tuesday.
"David has nothing to prove to anybody," the manager said. "His
career speaks for itself because what he did in football is
something very big."
Huntelaar also gave an effusive endorsement of Beckham's
influence. "He has a real eye for the assist," the 26 year-old
said. "He's always looking for the strikers and to swing the ball
in, in front of you.
"It's nice to play as a striker with him there, and with
Ronaldinho on the other side. Each player here has his own
specialisms."
Beckham does not doubt that he has an heir to Milan's finest
tradition, in being a specialist for the grand occasion.