The crossbar denied Andrea Pirlo as Milan stutter once again to a 0-0 draw at Livorno with Ronaldinho and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar disappointing.

The Rossoneri needed to get back on their feet after the 4-0 derby debacle. Gennaro Gattuso was sent off in that game and therefore suspended as well as injured, joining Marco Borriello, Davide Di Gennaro, Daniele Bonera and Christian Abbiati on the sidelines. Livorno had Mirko Pieri banned and Nelson Rivas ruled out, but Mozart's international transfer came in at the last minute.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Clarence Seedorf and Massimo Oddo got their first starts, as Gianluca Zambrotta and Andrea Pirlo were rested. There was a bizarre note as two Livorno players - Candreva and Perticone - had their names mispelled on their team shirts.

Livorno had the brighter start and Marco Storari flapped away a rising Raimondi snapshot. From a corner Cristiano Lucarelli turned a free header well over.

Milan's defending from set plays has not improved and Lucarelli turned another free header wide from six yards in acres of space.

Mathieu Flamini hit a hopeful snapshot over from 20 metres, then at the other end Huntelaar just failed to get on the end of a free kick thanks to Alfonso De Lucia's badly timed run.

Storari had his palms stung by a fierce Candreva free kick. The move continued and the goalkeeper again had to beat away a powerful Raimondi angled drive from nine yards with the defence scrambling clear for a corner.

However, on 38 minutes Alexandre Pato nearly punished Livorno with a classic counter-attack. He sprung the offside trap in midfield and skipped back past Raimondi to bring a great one-handed low save out of De Lucia.

Storari again flew to push away a wickedly deflected Candreva free kick from distance. A weak Huntelaar header was comfortably held and the Dutchman was not quick enough to react to a Flamini cross-shot.

Livorno went very close straight after the restart when Candreva's sliderule pass sent Lucarelli clear, but his chipped cross was too long for Francesco Tavano and the follow-up charged down for a corner.

Pippo Inzaghi and Pirlo replaced the very quiet Huntelaar and Ronaldinho, the midfielder taking on a new left-midfield role. Within minutes Pirlo had Milan's best opportunity of the game so far, curling a free kick over the wall and off the underside of the bar with De Lucia beaten.

Pato went on the counter and threaded through for Inzaghi, but his first touch let him down and De Lucia came flying out to deflect it over the bar. Inzaghi threatened again soon after, missing the final touch to a wayward Flamini cross-shot by a matter of inches.

Ignazio Abate made his seasonal debut for a positive Flamini and immediately crossed for Pato, who attempted a very difficult scissor-kick volley. Tavano had penalty appeals in a coming-together with Thiago Silva, but the referee waved play on.

Inzaghi hit the side-netting and Luigi Vitale charged down Seedorf's shot in the box as Milan poured forward in the closing minutes, but this also left gaps at the back for counter-attacks.