By John May

Filippo Inzaghi is expected to lead Milan's attack against United

Brazil legend Leonardo believes AC Milan will attack Manchester United from the start to overturn the 3-2 Champions League semi-final deficit.

A 1-0 second leg win would take Milan through but Leonardo, who spent four years at Milan, told BBC Sport: "It's not the time to try to manage a result.

"Milan will play the way they want to and that's to go out and win.

"With Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, United have players who can score at any time."

The Brazilian World Cup winner is licking his lips at the prospect of a repeat of the first-leg thriller, but with his old team emerging victorious.

Milan are coming to their prime at the right time Former AC Milan player Leonardo

He said: "Nobody expected 3-2 in the first leg, it was a spectacular game, with spectacular players and spectacular goals.

"When you talk about United and Milan you expect so much because they are big teams. But it's not every day you see a game like that with five goals."

Leonardo admitted he feared the worst when United took an early lead and threatened to repeat their astonishing win over Italian opposition in the previous round.

"When United scored after five minutes, playing at home, it might have looked like another game like Roma," said Leonardo.

"But I think that's when Milan's big personalities showed themselves. Players like Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini, Kaka and Andrea Pirlo showed they are big players in big games.

"Perhaps 2-2 was a more likely result but the third goal in the last minute came about because of a missed ball in midfield and a fast counter-attack, which is what United can do."

Unlike United, Milan have no other prizes to play for and their only route into next season's Champions League could be to win this season's trophy.

Kaka and Ronaldo go head-to-head again on Wednesday

But Leonardo feels Carlo Ancelotti's team are peaking at the right time.

"Milan are coming to their prime at the right time of the season. At the start of the season, they had some problems, with all the difficulties in Italian football," he said.

"But they know how to play in the Champions League, they have the pedigree.

"They have played in four semi-finals in the last five years, they have won the European title six times and when the players play in this kind of match, they are in tune with the club's philosophy and tradition."

Leonardo is relishing another duel between Milan's Brazilian maestro Kaka and United's mercurial wizard Cristiano Ronaldo.

Kaka's two goals in the first-leg not only put him out in front as this season's leading Champions League scorer, but also put him ahead on points in the debate as to who is the best.

Leonardo said: "They are the best players in the world at the moment.

"Kaka and Ronaldo are very different players. Ronaldo is more spectacular sometimes but Kaka is more objective and in the game more and can have more influence on it."