FC Barcelona 3 ai??i?? 1 AC Milan: Post Mortem ai??i?? One Team Showed Up

The talk will be all about controversies and the referee. The fact is , one team was better than the other over the two legs and hence qualified. Barcelona did what they always do, control. What was also true was that they werenai??i??t at their best in either leg.

Barcelona started both games in style and wanted the win more. The first half saw three goals with Lionel Messi scoring his 13^th and 14^th goal of the season with two penalties. Both were according to the rule book and converted. In between both goals, was Nocerinoai??i??sAi?? calm finish which gave Milan a chance.

The second half saw Andres Iniesta at his ai???world cupai??? best when he stayed onside to receive a deflected shot from Messi and almost passed the ball into the net.

AC Milan Strategy and Gameplay

How They Started?

Christian Abbiati; Ignazio Abate, Phillipe Mexes, Alessandro Nesta, Luca Antonini; Antonio Nocerino, Clarence Seedorf, Massimo Ambrosini; Kevin Prince Boateng, Robinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Milan came to Camp Nou to win. The idea was to press, not as high as other teams but to keep the pressure and hit Barcelona on the counter attack.Ai?? Thiago Silva was still injured and didnai??i??t play this game while Pato was back from his trip to the United States (for Medical Purposes) and came on as a substitute. Milan started enthusiastically enough and their defense was organised for about 10 minutes.

Ambrosini did well to cover his defenders while Seedorf attempted to convert any turn overs by the Catalans into attack. Milanai??i??s attacking players like Robinho, Boateng and Zlatan were lacking any real service but did well to press Barcaai??i??s defenders when possible. The first half showed that Milanai??i??s defenders lacked the ability to make use of the chances that were available to them. Counter attacking is a good strategy to use against Barcelona but Milan werenai??i??t able to use the space that Barcaai??i??s three man defense left for a team that was willing to attack.

The only goal for the Italians, in retrospect, was the only time that the correct pass was put into space (including the required movement by Nocerino) and it is a wonder that Milan coach didnai??i??t attempt to get his players to continue to do the same. Nocerinoai??i??s goal was a mix of Mascherano playing him onside and Zlatan making an inch perfect pass to his team-mate.

The defense, however, was where things fell apart. Although, admirable in their organisational skills, Nesta has to be blamed for that crucial second penalty towards the end of the first half. A player of Nestaai??i??s ability should have played to the referee and realised that grabbing a playerai??i??s shirt for a corner was not allowed. It must be said, for the best part, Milanai??i??s back line did well to stop Messi and co. but crucial mistakes proved pivotal.

Barcelona Strategy And Gameplay

How They Started?

Victor Valdes; Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol; Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez; Isaac Cuenca, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta.

Pep Guardiola shocked most people with his starting XI, especially by choosing Isaac Cuenca over players like Alexis Sanchez and Pedro. However, in hindsight, one can see the wisdom in his choice. Cuenca was close to perfect as he hardly ever lost possession while keeping width. The youngster didnai??i??t contribute much in terms of goals and assists but just his ability to dribble and pass while staying wide helped Barcelona create panic in Milanai??i??s defense. The Italian defense was forced to spread wide and therefore make space for the likes of Iniesta, Fabregas and Messi .

Barcelonaai??i??s midfield was all about pass and move with Busquets being , arguably , the man of the match. Sergioai??i??s movement and one touch passing influenced the game and his ability to read the game (in defense) contributed to the Italians having only one shot on target for the whole game. Xavi Hernandez, despite suffering from injuries, started the game and did well to create space and keep Iniesta and Messi in the game with his one touch passing while also making sure Barcaai??i??s width was maintained (by long passes to an overlapping Dani Alves). Like most matches, Barcaai??i??s midfield made the difference.

Pep Guardiola must have been keeping an eye on his defense. AlthoughAi?? Milan were restricted to only one shot on target (which turned out to be their only goal), Pique and Puyol did have their fair share of problems. Milan were smart in their build up to goal whenever they had the chance and passed the ball quickly but Zlatan Ibrahimovic troubled Pique in the first half. The Catalans did improve as the game went on but was substituted due to injuries half way through the second half. Pep will look to point this out to his defenders as their next goal will be to handle the likes of Didier Drogba.

The Biggest Talking Points

The penalties that Barca were awarded. In the end, they were according to the book.
Lionel Messi is the youngest player to reach the 50 goal mark in the Champions League (51 goals with his second penalty and 58 in all competitions this season).
Ibrahimovic has been kicked out of Europeai??i??sAi?? premier competition with every team he has played for and has not won the tournament yet.

TheHardTackleai??i??s Man Of The Match

Sergio Busquets

(c)Creativecommons_Busquets — All about One-Touch

Busquets, who has been known to exaggerate, showed instead his football intelligence. The Blaugranaai??i??s holding midfielder won his team the second penalty but that was nothing compared to how he read the game by dropping into defense when required and intercepting (and hence stopping) numerous passes by Milanai??i??s midfield. Although, Lionel Messi can be given credit for his contribution to the game, Busquets has once again Ai??proved that his ability to start attacks through a simple one-touch pass is a significant part of Barcaai??i??s game.

Tags: AC Milan FC Barcelona Lionel Messi

Comments 3

Emmanuel Porka says:

11 years ago

I’m quite convinced and inpressed that yes indeed Barca is the World leading foot ball team. Let me say enphatically, that Chelsea is going to be brought to public disgrace and disrespute. I can foresee that Chelsea is going to be defeated 3(THREE) goals to zero both HOME and ALWAY.
- Inder Methil says:
  
  11 years ago
  
  well…i think thats quite a prediction.have to disagree though…Chelsea are quite strong at home and if they choose to sit deep and defend by using their physicality…well, anything could happen…but i do agree that imo,Chelsea will be an easier opponent than Milan…
Mac says:

11 years ago

Both penalties were by the rule of the book? The first was offside (yes, go check d replay again) and the 2nd was well….. I’ve nothing to say about it that hasn’t been said a 1000 times already. And no mention of Ibra’s penalty claim? Disgracefully one-sided article.