Milan, Italy – AC Milan reached the Champions League final Wednesday by beating Manchester United 3-0 in the second leg and advancing 5-3 on total goals.
Milan got goals from Kaka, Clarence Seedorf and substitute Alberto Gilardino to advance to the May 23 title game against Liverpool in Athens, Greece.
“The way we played the first half I think is the dream of every coach,” Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “We played perfectly.”
Liverpool, a five-time European champion, defeated Chelsea 4-1 on penalty kicks Tuesday in the other semifinal.
HOCKEY
Sabres’ Gaustad cleared to return
Sabres forward Paul Gaustad has been cleared to play and could return Friday when Buffalo hosts the New York Rangers in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal. Gaustad, who practiced with the second penalty-killing unit, has been out since severing a tendon above his left ankle Feb. 7. The Sabres initially feared he would be out until June.
“He’ll be seeing the doctor (today) and we’ll see where he’s at and make a decision on it,” coach Lindy Ruff said.
Rick Nash scored the winning goal that gave Canada a 5-4 victory over Slovakia and the Group C preliminary round title at the world championships in Mytischi, Russia.
Sweden also remained perfect with a third straight rout, 6-0 over Switzerland, to head to the qualifying round having outscored its Group A opponents 21-3.
Earlier, Jason Cirone scored late in overtime to help Italy defeat Latvia 4-3 in Group A and avoid the relegation round. In Group C, Michael Wolf scored twice to lead Germany to a 5-3 victory over Norway and a place in the qualifying stage.
NFL
Seahawks kicker Brown signs tender
Seattle Seahawks franchise player Josh Brown has signed his tender offer worth $2,078,000 – the average of the top five paid kickers in the NFL – after the team could not reach a long-term deal with him.
The Seahawks designated Brown as their franchise player in February, to keep from losing one of the NFL’s best clutch kickers as a free agent. Another team would have had to surrender two first-round draft choices to Seattle had it signed him.
A preliminary autopsy shows that former NFL linebacker Kevin Mitchell died of a massive heart attack. Mitchell died in his sleep overnight Sunday at his home in Ashburn, Va., at age 36.
The Cleveland Browns informed guard Joe Andruzzi they plan to release him by the end of the week.
COLLEGES
Academic report hits Deep South
Athletic programs with the biggest budgets, such as the six BCS conferences, scored well on the latest NCAA Academic Progress Report. Those with less money did not.
Among the hardest-hit schools were those in the Hurricane Katrina region and predominantly black colleges. Teams at historically black colleges and universities accounted for about 13 percent of schools facing punishment because of poor classroom performance, and 13-of-49 schools receiving warning letters came from Louisiana.
The most prominent programs cited were Arizona’s football team and the men’s basketball teams at Cincinnati and Iowa State, which could lose scholarships.
Jim Wooldridge, most recently the head coach at Kansas State for six seasons, was hired as men’s basketball coach at California-Riverside.
FOOTNOTES
Andretti, McCumbee to replace Petty
John Andretti and Chad McCumbee will replace Kyle Petty during his five-race hiatus to be an analyst for five of the six races TNT will broadcast this season.
NASCAR fined Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray $25,000 each for making contact during a caution at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Sunday. Both drivers were also placed on probation until Oct. 3.
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. will drive for Foyt Racing and carry the No. 50 on his car in recognition of A.J. Foyt’s 50 years at the storied race.
Serena Williams (groin) and Anastasia Myskina (toe) pulled out of next week’s German Open with injuries.
Marathon record-holder Paula Radcliffe, who has been training in Boulder since late February, might miss the world championships in Japan this August because of a back injury that occurred during the 27 hours of labor it took to deliver her daughter Isla on Jan. 17.
James McGirt Jr., fighting as a super middleweight for the first time, improved to 15-0 with a unanimous eight-round decision over Brad Austin (8-3) in New York.
