Luque looks to Lady Luck

By Alex Eeles

RC Deportivo La Coruña may be 4-1 down from the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against AC Milan, but forward Alberto Luque has not given up hope of a dramatic turnaround.

Blown away
After taking an early lead at the San Siro, Deportivo were blown away by four goals in nine minutes from reigning champions Milan. Luque insists, however, that his side could yet achieve a footballing miracle at the Riazor. He told uefa.com: "There are still 90 minutes to play and if Milan can score four goals in nine minutes, why can't we score three in ten times that period?"

Sloppy defending
The pundits swooned at Milan's performance in the first leg, but the 25-year-old Luque was not so bedazzled. "I don't think they were as fantastic as people have said," he said. "They just took advantage of some minutes in the game where we did not play well. Certainly they played very well in those moments, but we helped them. We should have been more focussed, because with the players Milan have, if you lose concentration for a moment, they can exploit it.

Nightmare period
"Until they scored in the San Siro, we had control of the game but then, in a moment, 0-1 became 4-1 and none of us could believe what was happening. It was like a bad dream but sometimes football gives you these lessons. It was very harsh and cruel on us but now we are positive that we can overturn their lead. Our morale is up and we have to play to win."

Brilliant strikers
Kaká and Andriy Shevchenko scored three of Milan's four goals and Luque conceded that, along with Italy striker Filippo Inzaghi, they form an attack matched only by Real Madrid CF. "Kaká and Shevchenko in the first leg did not surprise me," said Luque. "Both of them have goals in their boots.

Forward mobility
"Kaká arrives very well from midfield and Shevchenko is always waiting for a chance and so is a permanent danger to any defence. The philosophy of their team is to create a lot of opportunities for them and both are very good at taking them. That makes them a very powerful attacking team and in my opinion Milan have the best attack in Europe, along with Madrid."

Unwelcoming venue
However, for all of their firepower and experience, Luque was adamant that Milan would not be looking forward to their trip to Galicia. With Manchester United FC, Juventus FC and FC Bayern München all having left the Riazor empty handed in recent seasons, Deportivo's stadium is a fearsome place to visit.

'Pressure cooker'
"I'm sure the Riazor will have a pressure-cooker atmosphere on Wednesday," said Luque. "Our supporters want us to do well in this competition as much as we do and they believe we still have a chance. Don't forget Milan are under much more pressure than us to win because they won the Champions League last season and are the favourites."

'Anything could happen'
The Spanish international concluded: "Milan have a great team with many individual stars. They also know how to play as a team. Of course we have to attack a lot but we mustn't concede a goal. If we score two goals in the first half and the crowd get behind us, then anything could happen."