AC Milan vs Barcelona

Pepe LeFrits

Well, first leg of the 'big' one. I'm not sure who I'd prefer to go through, from an Arsenal point of view I think Milan would be more beatable but arsebarse would be some game and would really fire up Henry and Fabregas... I'm sure Villarreal will have something to say about that though.

// edit - found it!

Milan are missing quarter final hero Filippo Inzaghi as he is ill with tonsillitis.

It means Alberto Gilardino will partner Andrei Shevchenko in attack with the Italian international still searching for his first goal in Europe.

Veteran defender Alessandro Costacurta also misses out through illness, but Jaap Stam is available again after being absent for last week's Milan derby win over Internazionale.

Barcelona have problems in attack for the trip to Italy.

Henrik Larsson picked up a hamstring injury in last week's win over Villarreal and he has not travelled with the squad.

Argentine ace Lionel Messi is still sidelined as he struggles to shake off a thigh problem.

Portuguese midfielder Deco is unavailable through suspension meaning Mark van Bommel should start in midfield alongside Edmilson and Andres Iniesta.

Mexican international Rafael Marquez is back in the squad and he is set to partner Carles Puyol in the heart of the defence.

Oh dear, no Xavi, Deco, or Messi. That puts a lot of creative onus on Ronaldinho, so provided Milan decide to make an effort this time I'll go for a score draw or a win for Milan by a single goal.

mike65

Simple enough for me - Barca.

AC Milan: Dida, Stam, Kaladze, Nesta, Serginho, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Kaka, Shevchenko, Gilardino.

Subs: Kalac, Cafu, Maldini, Rui Costa, Vogel, Ambrosini, Amoroso.

Barcelona: Valdes, Oleguer, Puyol, Marquez, Van Bronckhorst, Edmilson, Van Bommel, Iniesta, Giuly, Ronaldinho, Eto'o.

Subs: Jorquera, Belletti, Motta, Maxi Lopez, Ezquerro, Sylvinho, Gabri.

Referee: Bruno Coue (France)

Mike.

Chucky the tree

DOnt think messi will start. Well a week ago it was thought there was pretty much no chance of him starting.

county

think this will be a draw hopefully a high scoring draw

Davei141

I hope barca win.

andrewie

I think barca losing will win. 2-1

Töpher

4-3 Barca. G'wan!

el rabitos

i support both barca and milan so this is tough, i would have prefered this to be the final. based on experience and ability to punish and mistake, i'm going with milan, barca will really have to impose their game on them if they're going to get anything out of this

whiskeyman

I've had a feeling all week Milan are going to run riot.
Shev hat trick me think.

I've put my money where my mouth is too...

Chong

Come on Barca, I hope they win.

I am looking for a Arsenal Vs Barca final.

county

this is shaping up to be a great game

SpAcEd OuT

Milan to win this

merlinsmerryman

I think David Pleat has lost it. He is not making any sense at all.

Chong

merlinsmerryman wrote:

I think David Pleat has lost it. He is not making any sense at all.

Lol he never does.

Necronomicon

Great dive by Kaka. Pirlo came close with the resulting free.

evad_lhorg

milan very dangerous early on and hit the post. Ronaldinho has made a few mistakes but ill allow it.:D

im not bothered by foreign leagues really I just support the team with players i love to watch. I suppose you could say i am a Juve fan but I wanted arsenal to hammer them as Henry is amazing. here I love both teams. Ill settle for great play and a goal or two. Kaka is amazing imo.

would love to see Arsenal win the whole lot but I dont know if they can beat Barca at full strength. Id say they can give Milan a fair go though.

assumin they can beat Villareal

Rollo Tamasi

that Seedorf fella must be the most over rated player ever.

Pepe LeFrits

Milan marginally the better of the two so far, they're battling and passing better than Barca. More ambition and more teamplay, mind you Eto'o and Ronaldinho have looked dangerous at times. Not a bad match so far, hopefully it'll pick up in the 2nd half though.

Gilardino hitting the post was a bad miss; Valdes practically gave him an empty goal.

Roddy23

that Seedorf fella must be the most over rated player ever.

how so

3 different teams, 3 different European cups


Ronaldinho has the beatin of Gattuso.I'd say he'll get booked this half, and miss the next match. Can still see Milan winning tho. Barca look dodge tonight down Oleguer's side

YeatsCounty

Milan are like terriers out there, they're pressing Barca hard. Milan are playing without the ball as well as playing with it, which is a damn good sign. Barca are coming into it a bit more, Eto'o is being given a tiny bit more time on the ball than is neccessary as the half progressed. Great game. Here's hoping that Milan can get a precious win tonight!

Rollo Tamasi

Roddy23 wrote:

how so

3 different teams, 3 different European cups

and he won all those on his own did he?
how many championship medals does Paul Parker have, he must be world class so. :rolleyes:
i have a feeling we are going to see a sending off in this game, whichever team ends with 11 men will probably edge it imo.

Roddy23

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roddy23
how so

3 different teams, 3 different European cups




and he won all those on his own did he

Not but its the marker of a very good player, that wherever he goes success follows him.

Davei141

Rollo is only saying that because of what the RTE guys were saying the other week.

YeatsCounty

Kaka should have shot instead of passing to Gilardino. Gila really should have scored. :-/

Roddy23

ronaldinho: magic

Duras

it's there!!

SpAcEd OuT

completely undeserved, you got to feel for milan they have created all the chances and completely dominated the game so far

merlinsmerryman

What a pass. Quality and class.

evad_lhorg

now thts what I wanted to see. great pass great finish.

Chong

Come on Barca.

SpAcEd OuT

ronaldhino nearly scores, seedorf is having a shocker

Roddy23

jasyus seedorf, what are ye doing to me. Lovely shot from Ronaldinho.

Chong

I cant believe ronnie hit the post.

YeatsCounty

Pirlo off, Maldini on. About time.

Barca have gotten what they came for. Now they're just keeping possession, they are in no great hurry to take the game to Milan again. Milan just can't get the ball back at the moment.

Chong

Oleguer off and Motta on.

SpAcEd OuT

ambrosini misses a sitter

county

SpAcEd OuT wrote:

ambrosini misses a sitter

should have scored

Roddy23

Good win for Barca. First half Milan shaded it. Second half different story. Milan team made to look old by the end of that game.

Pepe LeFrits

Dunno how Milan didn't score there, but then similar things were said of Lyon in the previous round!

2-1 or 2-0 at Camp Nou still sees Milan through, they'll need to finish better than they did tonight though.

Raskolnikov

I thought Barca were poor tonight but without some of their most influential players, that's to be expected. Still they managed to beat an almost full strength Milan team. Even if Milan score twice at the Nou Camp, Barca will score at least once.

mike65

Funny old game, the right result I think as Milans midfield offered little ammo for the attack.

Mike.

county

i think now barca will make the final,milan could score in the second leg but barca will score more

YeatsCounty

Barca got the result that they wanted and were quite happy to hold onto it and rightly so. I think that Milan really should have gotten something out of this game. They deserved more than a 1-0 defeat, unfortunately Gila has no luck whatsoever in Europe and Ambro......he is not a striker. He also took a shot when he should have crossed the ball to Sheva. I reject the notion that Barca made Milan look "old" by the end of the match. Barca were holding onto possession while Milan couldn't get a sniff of it. It's happened before to much younger teams, so I don't think that age was a factor at all tonight.

Well done to Barca but this tie isn't finished yet. It will be very difficult for Milan in the second leg but not impossible by any means.

Forza Milan!

Rollo Tamasi

Davei141 wrote:

Rollo is only saying that because of what the RTE guys were saying the other week.

what guys were saying what?

Cormic

I enjoyed the game tonight. Particularly the second half when Barca started playing keep-ball.

iregk

I'd love to know what game the commentators on tv3 were watching last night. Every time someone took a shot there was a roar of "Shevchenko" despite the fact that it wasn't him. I counted 3 shots in a row, from Maldini, Gillardino and Abrosini where they roared Sheva... funny.

To be honest I didn't think it was any where near as 1 sided as tv3 made it out to be. Yes most of them love to drool over this Barca team and hype them up but honestly who had the better chances? I counted 2 chances where Barca could have scored, they scored one but 4 chances where Milan could have done. Kaka's cross when he was clean through, should have shot. Abrosini well if it was Sheva it was a goal. Gillardino's shot off the post and another from Kaka where he really should have hit the target rather than blasting wide.

The difference was finishing! Milan showed me what I have known all season. Barca can be got at and frustrated. For the first half they didn't give Ronaldinho a sniff and he was getting annoyed and started to hit passes to nobody. Had Gillas goal gone in that game was a 2 or 3-0 to Milan...

Barca had a purple patch for 15mins in the second half, altough I put the goal down to poor goalkeeping on Dida's part. He came for it, would have made it and decided to stop and got stuck in no mans land! After than it was mostly Milan for the rest of the game apart from the last 10mins.

This tie is by no means over and I still fancy Milan to do it. Barca can be great to watch but only when you let them play. You can frustrate them, you can take Ronaldinho out of the game and they are still light at the back!

gracehopper

I enjoyed the game. AC Milan had the better of the first half but it was a great pass from ronaldinho and a great finish by Guily.Kaka should have netted instead of passing. Makes for an interesting second leg

Slash/ED

iregk wrote:

Barca can be great to watch but only when you let them play. You can frustrate them, you can take Ronaldinho out of the game

Nobody let Barca play, they let themselves play, Milan tried to frustrate them and couldn't keep it up. And if you think you can just magically take Ronaldinho out of the game then you obviously haven't watched alot of football, they tried everything to do that today and he still created the goal, nearly scored and hit some absolutley majestic passes.

iregk

Slash/ED wrote:

Nobody let Barca play, they let themselves play, Milan tried to frustrate them and couldn't keep it up. And if you think you can just magically take Ronaldinho out of the game then you obviously haven't watched alot of football, they tried everything to do that today and he still created the goal, nearly scored and hit some absolutley majestic passes.

What I'm saying is if you get at Barca and press them all over the park you will stop them playing. Thats why if Barca and Arsenal get to the final I kind of fancy Arsenal I have to say. If they play they way they can they will be high tempo and closing Barca down and Barca do not like that at all.

Ronaldinho for the first half last night wasn't great at all. He was closed down and his passing as a result was all over the place. In the second half they moved him further forward and he started to get space and had some nice moments. What I am saying though if you look at Milan first half and Chelsea game first half, Ronaldinho when he had players on him was taken out of the game. Obviously he is class and will get his moment regardless, this is a sign of a great player but you can keep him quiet enough. I'm not saying you can magically take him out. Jesus if it was that easy football would be rather dull but what I'm saying is he doesn't seem to like close attention.

okden

barca are still suffering from the luis old van gaal press, even the so called tv experts come out with the same crap -- very pretty but no defence.
rijkaard has turned all that around,after all he learnt alot of his tactics in italy . theyve only let in 4 goals so far, 1 was an og and 2 were very dodgy penos. he has a slightly more cautous tactics when teams try to beat them by pressing and it works although looks like its not if your expecting all fireworks. also in most of these pressing games they dominate in the 2nd half, normaly scoring early on, a subtle change in tactics after the half and rarely a sub needed to implement the change.
im not saying the tie is over but last night was rijkaard 1 - 0 milan for me.
hoping they get to paris and pickup the trophy (and henry).

Kingp35

Couple of points from last nights game.

1. Jaap Stam is not a right back. He may be able to defend but he is absolutely shocking going forward. terrible crosser of the ball who just gave it away everytime he went forward. Cafu has to play there in the Nou Camp. Stam is a centre back, either play him there or dont play him at all.

2. Dida is poor. It was his fault for the goal. He came out to collect the ball and changed his mind at the last minute and was caught out of position. A goalkeeper should not be caught out at his near post, especially one playing in the Semi-Final of the Champions League.

3. The Milan side last night had a total lack of width. Gattusso is no right winger, Seedorf was simply awful, as I already said Stam is awful going forward. They need to start Maldini at Left back and Serginho Left wing, and Cafu right back if they are to exploit Barcelona down the wings. Remember the Nou Camp is a huge pitch and there will be plenty of room down the wings where a player like Serginho could get alot of Joy.

4. Gilardinho seems to have the inability to play well in Europe. Some bad misses last night and he was totally anonymous in general play. He needs to up it big time and show the talent he has.

Despite all this I think Milan still should have gotten at least a draw out of the game but bad misses mean they go to Spain a goal down. The tie is by no means over though as Milan are well capable of going to Barcelona and getting a result.