One.
That was the number of shots on target for Barcelona. The Spanish Champions-in-waiting, perennial Champions League favourites and most decorated football side in the last decade were shut out by a memorable Milan display that sometimes bordered on perfection.
Playing against Barcelona will always be a case of good against evil. The Catalans have perfected and redefined the art of total football and as a consequence have left battered defences and damaged dreams in their wake as they have gone on to enjoy spectacular success. On paper Milan were just another blot of ink waiting to be erased but on the night, at the San Siro, AC Milan put up their finest performance of the season against a Barcelona side who have lost only 3 games in the entire season (La Liga, Spanish Supercopa and Champions League). A master-class was needed and that is what Milan delivered.
How did they do it?
The Midfield Trinity. The men in the middle for Milan deserve medals for their performance. Such was their efficiency that they put in more blocks, tackles and interceptions that the entire back four of Milan. They were rarely breached as Muntari, Montolivo and Ambrosini combined to halt Barcelona’s much vaunted creative sparks. To stop Barcelona, as Chelsea and Madrid showed last season, limiting the space between midfield and defence is key but it is not as easy as it sounds- ask Manchester United. It was not all about tackles and blocks though as, whenever Milan broke forward, the midfield joined the attack and then retreated to assume their positions in record time. Shutting out a side that have failed to score only once in 43 games this season puts Milan’s defensive efforts in perspective. If it does not, try this: Barcelona had only 11 touches of the ball in Milan’s penalty area. The defining moments of the game were shortly after Boateng’s opener when Barcelona expected tried to put up a response. Ambrosini, Muntari and Montolivo hunted for the ball in packs- a signature Barcelona move, snapped at the heels of the players in the awful yellow/orange outfits and prevented Barcelona’s usual free-flowing build-up play from developing. It was only fitting that one of these men got on the score-sheet as Muntari scored a priceless second goal.
Clinical finishing The last time Barcelona lost a Champions League game, against Celtic, they had 25 shots at goal, eight of which were on target. In this game however, the chances were going to be few and far between. Whenever they came, they had to be taken as the Champions League knock out phases are no place for a profligate team. While Barcelona hardly created chances, Milan took theirs and on the front-foot looked more threatening than their Barcelona counterparts. El-Shaarawy, star of the season so far, suffered a dip in form in recent games but did just enough against Barcelona. Pazzini until he bloodied his forehead was a nuisance to Barcelona’s defence and his replacement M’biaye Niang looked even more lively. Most pundits across the world were chorusing the ‘you have to take your chances’ song before the game; it appears Milan were listening.
Dejavu? Milan have started 31 European matches in the second-leg games with a lead of two or more goals from the first-leg. Of those games, they failed to qualify for the next round of matches only twice- against Bordeaux in 1996 and Deportivo in 2004. Barcelona certainly have the firepower to make history repeat itself and will fancy their chances at the Nou Camp but history does not do them justice either. Since the introduction of the away rule, Barcelona have never turned a 2-0 first-leg loss around. Similarly, the last two times Barcelona have been knocked out in Champions League qualifying stages, they lost the first leg away from home. Going into this second leg, Milan are armed with a two goal lead and a huge dose of confidence. What started as a shabby season is turning out to be a memorable one. In Rome on Saturday, Totti proved proved that phoenixes can still rise from ashes, two days later in Milan, the Rossoneri rose from the dead. For Barcelona, this could be arriverderci.
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Yomi Kazeem is, amongst other things, a football pundit and sports media professional based in Lagos, Nigeria. He tweets at @TheYomiKazeem
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