Barcelona: Dubbed
as the greatest football team in the world, Barcelona are keen to defend their
Champions League title and become the second club in history to defend their
title after their opponents AC Milan accomplished a similar feat 22 years ago.
Barcelona developed their own style of football with high
tempo short passes and flicks, and a frantic obsession with recovering the
ball. They generally attempt to man-mark players all over the pitch limiting
their opponent’s options and forcing them into pressure. Aided by a group of
world-class players like Messi, Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta, and Puyol to name a
few, Barcelona find little trouble in penetrating the opposition’s defense and
finding the net making them the toughest team to beat out of the final eight
teams remaining in the competition.
AC Milan: A club with
a glorious history that has won the Champions league on 7 occasions and in
total has lifted more trophies than any other European club. They’re team
slowly emerging from a transition phase after a combination of selling off,
retirement, and ageing of key players that won the Champions league in 2007.
They won their 18th domestic league title last season and are
currently leading the table to capture their 19th Serie A trophy.
The most notable reinforcements that led to the Rossonerri’s resurgence were
led by the signing of Ibrahimovic, Robinho, and Kevin-Prince Boateng. Milan has
endured a long injury crisis this season and has have played most of their
matches with at least 10 to 14 unavailable players.
Head to Head: Having
already played each other in the group stages with both matches providing great
football entertainment and intensity, this is undoubtedly the most anticipated
match-up in the Quarter Finals stage of the CL this season. AC Milan has not
defeated Barcelona in their last 5 matchups with their last victory against the
Catalan side dating back to the 04/05 CL group stage match-up. The historical
record between the 2 teams stands at 4 draws, 4 wins for AC Milan, and 5
Barcelona wins in a total of 13 clashes.
Key Points: For
both legs of the tie, Barcelona will be without one of their key defenders,
Abidal , who is undergoing a liver transplant, his replacement, Adriano, is
also doubtful, which gives Guardiola a few things to think about in defense as
Pique has been out of form recently.
AC Milan’s list of injured players would make one of the
strongest teams in Serie A with Pato, Cassano, Robinho, Van Bommel, Strasser,
Flamini, Abate, Merkel, and Thiago Silva all currently out with injuries. Without Abate or Thiago Silva in defense, Milan, like Barcelona, also look vulnerable in
defense.
AC Milan’s objective was to reach the quarter-finals, Barcelona on the other hand are expected to win the
competition. Regardless of objectives, I have no doubt that AC Milan will play
with great intensity and with the belief that they can cause a major upset. However, the pressure
is primarily on the Spanish side in this tie.
Possible Line-ups:
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