F.C. Barcelona vs A.C. Milan CL last 16 2nd leg Match Thread

Moneymaker

Much more balance to that Barca side. Will be a long night for Milan.

50-50 imo.

Andersonisgod

Wow, quite a bit of negative reaction, to be honest I expected more people to agree with my sentiments. I'll validate my comment here rather than replying to everyone.

Why would it be a victory for football tonight if Barcelona win? Because Barcelona don't stick 10 men behind the ball, because Barcelona always look to take game to the opposition, because Barcelona, with their reliance on technique, skill and possession, play the purest form of football the world has ever seen. Because it would be vindication, a great example of the side trying to play winning rather than one sticking everyone on the edge of the box and defending for dear life.

I'm not pretentious, I also don't wish to be some kind of target or symbol on this forum, I'm merely a fan and believer in how Barcelona play the game.

Milan are a great club, I've never said otherwise, they've had so many great players and great teams come through their club. However I was disappointed with them in the first leg. A club of their size, with their great history sending out a team to park the bus at the San Siro. Barcelona looked more like the home team in the first leg than Milan. This Barcelona team, to their credit, play the same way, no matter the circumstances. They have a football philosophy ingrained in them and they play that way no matter what, a hugely admirable trait.

Have Barcelona occasionally spent big money? Yes, though Milan are hardly strangers to spending big money. However, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Thiago Alcantara, Marc Barta, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Jordi Alba, Martin Montoya and Cristian Tello, all products of La Masia. Unheard of in the modern game to have so many players come through the clubs academy and compete at such a high level.

Anyway on a more important note, very happy with that Barcelona starting line up. Glad to see Villa starting with Iniesta dropping into the midfield 3. If things aren't going to plan, hopefully Tello is the first option used from the bench, he really could be a big player tonight in opening up and stretching the Milan backline.

Turtwig

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Wow, quite a bit of negative reaction, to be honest I expected more people to agree with my sentiments. I'll validate my comment here rather than replying to everyone.

Why would it be a victory for football tonight if Barcelona win? Because Barcelona don't stick 10 men behind the ball, because Barcelona always look to take game to the opposition, because Barcelona, with their reliance on technique, skill and possession, play the purest form of football the world has ever seen.

Eirebear

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Wow, quite a bit of negative reaction, to be honest I expected more people to agree with my sentiments. I'll validate my comment here rather than replying to everyone.

Why would it be a victory for football tonight if Barcelona win? Because Barcelona don't stick 10 men behind the ball, because Barcelona always look to take game to the opposition, because Barcelona, with their reliance on technique, skill and possession, play the purest form of football the world has ever seen. Because it would be vindication, a great example of the side trying to play winning rather than one sticking everyone on the edge of the box and defending for dear life.

I'm not pretentious, I also don't wish to be some kind of target or symbol on this forum, I'm merely a fan and believer in how Barcelona play the game.

Milan are a great club, I've never said otherwise, they've had so many great players and great teams come through their club. However I was disappointed with them in the first leg. A club of their size, with their great history sending out a team to park the bus at the San Siro. Barcelona looked more like the home team in the first leg than Milan. This Barcelona team, to their credit, play the same way, no matter the circumstances. They have a football philosophy ingrained in them and they play that way no matter what, a hugely admirable trait.

Have Barcelona occasionally spent big money? Yes, though Milan are hardly strangers to spending big money. However, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Thiago Alcantara, Marc Barta, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Jordi Alba, Martin Montoya and Cristian Tello, all products of La Masia. Unheard of in the modern game to have so many players come through the clubs academy and compete at such a high level.

Anyway on a more important note, very happy with that Barcelona starting line up. Glad to see Villa starting with Iniesta dropping into the midfield 3. If things aren't going to plan, hopefully Tello is the first option used from the bench, he really could be a big player tonight in opening up and stretching the Milan backline.

I like defending, defending is an integral part of football.
Football is about using the methods at your disposal to outwit, outfight and outscore your opponents over the given time period.

AC Milan going through tonight would, quite obviously be "A Victory For Football".

Bodhisopha

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Wow, quite a bit of negative reaction, to be honest I expected more people to agree with my sentiments. I'll validate my comment here rather than replying to everyone.

Why would it be a victory for football tonight if Barcelona win? Because Barcelona don't stick 10 men behind the ball, because Barcelona always look to take game to the opposition, because Barcelona, with their reliance on technique, skill and possession, play the purest form of football the world has ever seen. Because it would be vindication, a great example of the side trying to play winning rather than one sticking everyone on the edge of the box and defending for dear life.

I'm not pretentious, I also don't wish to be some kind of target or symbol on this forum, I'm merely a fan and believer in how Barcelona play the game.

Milan are a great club, I've never said otherwise, they've had so many great players and great teams come through their club. However I was disappointed with them in the first leg. A club of their size, with their great history sending out a team to park the bus at the San Siro. Barcelona looked more like the home team in the first leg than Milan. This Barcelona team, to their credit, play the same way, no matter the circumstances. They have a football philosophy ingrained in them and they play that way no matter what, a hugely admirable trait.

Have Barcelona occasionally spent big money? Yes, though Milan are hardly strangers to spending big money. However, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Thiago Alcantara, Marc Barta, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Jordi Alba, Martin Montoya and Cristian Tello, all products of La Masia. Unheard of in the modern game to have so many players come through the clubs academy and compete at such a high level.

Anyway on a more important note, very happy with that Barcelona starting line up. Glad to see Villa starting with Iniesta dropping into the midfield 3. If things aren't going to plan, hopefully Tello is the first option used from the bench, he really could be a big player tonight in opening up and stretching the Milan backline.

Wasting your time, the typical Irish football fan is an uncultured beast. I blame Jack Charlton.

Andersonisgod

Eirebear wrote: »

I like defending, defending is an integral part of football.
Football is about using the methods at your disposal to outwit, outfight and outscore your opponents over the given time period.

AC Milan going through tonight would, quite obviously be "A Victory For Football".

I agree that defending is a part of the game but I disagree that it should be the only, or the vast majority, of the game and I believe in the first leg that it was exactly that for Milan, as it will be again tonight. It's never that for Barcelona and that is why they represent something so great in the game.

Anyway I don't want this thread to become an endless back and forth argument which serves only to distract from the game. Nor do I want to become the target of, not quite so funny, memes. Nor do I want to give the mods more work than they already have so I'm gonna stop posting on this thread until the game actually starts.

adox

To say Milan parked the bus in the first leg is quite clearly untrue.

Kylo Ren

Is this on ITV lads? I can't handle watching it on TV3.

mike65

Why not check? (answer yes!)

Milan had a better tactical set up than Barca. Tonight with the home side obviously requiring at least two goals the space ought to be there for the counter but maybe the Italians will try to do a very traditional shut out job. 3-3 or 0-0 It should be fascinating either way.

Moneymaker

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Why would it be a victory for football tonight if Barcelona win? Because Barcelona don't stick 10 men behind the ball, because Barcelona always look to take game to the opposition, because Barcelona, with their reliance on technique, skill and possession, play the purest form of football the world has ever seen. Because it would be vindication, a great example of the side trying to play winning rather than one sticking everyone on the edge of the box and defending for dear life.

I didn't see Milan do that in the first leg. I saw an organised game plan maximising their strengths and Barca's perceived weaknesses.

'Defending for their lives', 'parking the bus'. Those statements imply Milan carried no attacking threat. Not true. They scored 2 goals and could have scored more. Barca created absolutely nothing.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Milan are a great club, I've never said otherwise, they've had so many great players and great teams come through their club. However I was disappointed with them in the first leg. A club of their size, with their great history sending out a team to park the bus at the San Siro. Barcelona looked more like the home team in the first leg than Milan. This Barcelona team, to their credit, play the same way, no matter the circumstances. They have a football philosophy ingrained in them and they play that way no matter what, a hugely admirable trait.

They. Did. Not. Park. The. Bus.

You use that term but you have no idea what it means.

Milan have had the entire spine of their side sold/retired and are doing a rebuilding job. They haven't splashed out on any one player for a long time and are blooding lots of young talent.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Have Barcelona occasionally spent big money? Yes, though Milan are hardly strangers to spending big money. However, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Thiago Alcantara, Marc Barta, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Jordi Alba, Martin Montoya and Cristian Tello, all products of La Masia. Unheard of in the modern game to have so many players come through the clubs academy and compete at such a high level.

Milan:Abbiati(Youth) ,Abate(Youth), Mexes(Free), Zapata(Undisclosed) Constant(Undisclosed),Montolivo(Free), Ambrosini(500k), Flamini(Free), Boateng(circa 5m), Niang(Youth) El Shaarawy(Youth)

Barca: Valdes(Youth), Alves(23m + addons), Pique(5m), Mascherano(24m), Alba(14m), Xavi(Youth), Iniesta(Youth), Busquets(Youth), Pedro(Youth), Messi(Youth), Villa(40m).

Plenty of youth players yeah but also collosal transfer fees(Fabregas, Sanchez and Song also on the bench) which Milan haven't been able to compete with for nearly 10 years now.

I agree with you on the last part though, that's the best team Barca could have picked, good balance to their attack and midfield with Iniesta playing in imo his correct position and Villa in the side.

Kylo Ren

mike65 wrote: »

Why not check? (answer yes!)

Milan had a better tactical set up than Barca. Tonight with the home side obviously requiring at least two goals the space ought to be there for the counter but maybe the Italians will try to do a very traditional shut out job. 3-3 or 0-0 It should be fascinating either way.

Not at home, Michael. Gracias.

The_Kew_Tour

Bodhisopha wrote: »

. I blame Jack Charlton.

The man who invented the defensive game Barca now play funny enough.

I'm a fan of Barca style fwiw.

roanoke

Joking aside there is some similarities between Charlton's Ireland and Barca. They both designed their game purposely to keep the ball in the opposition half as much as possible and to essentially pressurise the opposition team into making a mistake rather than simply hoping to outplay them.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

roanoke wrote: »

Joking aside there is some similarities between Charlton's Ireland and Barca. They both designed their game purposely to keep the ball in the opposition half as much as possible and to essentially pressurise the opposition team into making a mistake rather than simply hoping to outplay them.

Delusion alive and well on boards.ie. Some of the posts on this thread have been mind-numbingly farcical, from both sides.

IncognitoMan

Keno 92 wrote: »

Is this on ITV lads? I can't handle watching it on TV3.

ITV and TV3 always have the same night for champions league coverage (Tuesday) So you never have to watch TV3. RTE always have Wednesday

Turtwig

THFC wrote: »

Delusion alive and well on boards.ie. Some of the posts on this thread have been mind-numbingly farcical, from both sides.

Yeah, tell me about it. Zlatan is only two best players in the world?? He's at least three.

SlickRic

Keown just said Messi's been off form.

I fúcking give up.

SlickRic

SlickRic wrote: »

Keown just said Messi's been off form.

I fúcking give up.

Scoring in 17 consecutive league games isn't enough for our Martin.

These guys actually get paid as "pundits" :rolleyes:

missingtime

SlickRic wrote: »

Keown just said Messi's been off form.

I fúcking give up.

Doesnt he have 27 goals in his last 17 games or something?

Kylo Ren

SlickRic wrote: »

Keown just said Messi's been off form.

I fúcking give up.

A few days after he breaks the record for scoring in his 17th consecutive La Liga game.

Down Kevin, down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ACcNOlN4rw

PurpleSt4in

If someone put a gun to my head and said PREDICT NOW;Barcelona 2-0. A goal before the 30mins mark, and a goal coming late some time after 80mins.

SlickRic

missingtime wrote: »

Doesnt he have 27 goals in his last 17 games or something?

something close to that.

as rarnes said, he's scored in 17 consecutive games. a new record.

but apparently, his form has been one of Barca's problems recently.

incredible insight from Martin.

Anyone

Impressive sight in the Nou Camp, ruined by 4 idiots on ITV.

Red Crow

Nice to see the speakers in the Camp Nou are working fine! Fake fan noise sucks.

Andersonisgod

Camp Nou looking splendid. Really a sight to behold on a big European night.

Will I Amnt

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Camp Nou looking splendid. Really a sight to behold on a big European night.

Why don't you just marry Barcelona :pac:

Will I Amnt

Stunning goal :eek:

missingtime

Ya, he's crap

Anyone

Out of form indeed Martin.

Johner

What a goal.

ollie1

Wow what a finish by Messi

SlickRic

yup, Messi's off form.

GLaDOS

Wow, just wow.

adox

Stunning goal from that lad that's off form.

Kylo Ren

Lovely strike.

Moneymaker

Some finish. Way too easy though. Long night for Milan ahead.

Jelle1880

Absolutely brilliant.

smileyj1987

That was a serious goal , Milan need to get organised now or they could be in for a right thumping .

Andersonisgod

Football! Football in its purest form. Tiki taka as it was meant to be. This is football as it should be. Tears are almost coming out of my eyes right now.

Aidric

Oh my, that was a special strike by Messi.

AdamD

Commentators on UTV barely even acknowledged the finish. Bizarre.

Martin reckons it was a fluke

AdamD

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Football! Football in its purest form. Tiki taka as it was meant to be. This is football as it should be. Tears are almost coming out of my eyes right now.

Tears are coming out of my eyes from reading your posts

GLaDOS

Barca's vulnerabilities exposed there, could well rue that miss.

Kylo Ren

He smells blood.

GLaDOS

See, off form

Kylo Ren

Milan are collapsing.

D'Agger

Milan players must be looking forward to half time already.

Super stuff from Barca

handsomecake

its churlish to not like how barca play.


"Football is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom”

danny blancheflower

adox

That's a couple of top saves.