Tactically perfect AC Milan beat Barcelona at the San Siro
MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 20: Andres Iniesta of FC Barcelona compete for the ball with Riccardo Montolivo of AC Milan (L) during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg match between AC Milan and Barcelona
AC Milan played the perfect foil to Barcelona’s possession game to emerge 2 – 0 winners on a glorious night of football at the San Siro. Goals from former Portsmouth players Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari were sufficient for the home side to get past the Catalans, who barely managed to trouble the Milan defence themselves. Brilliant tactical play from Massimiliano Allegri, more than anything else, is to thank for setting up an intriguing second leg at the Nou Camp.
There was no place in the AC Milan starting line-up for new recruit Mario Balotelli, who is cup tied with former club Manchester City, with Giampaolo Pazzini starting in the middle of a front-three for the home side. Barcelona went with a much more expected front trio of Iniesta, Messi and Pedro, with most expecting a win for the visitors. The start was channelled heavily along Barca’s left side, with Jordi Alba being heavily involved both in defence as well as attack. There was a sustained spell of pressure for the Catalans around the 10-minute mark, with a couple of corners which saw efforts at target, but all of them were blocked away and did not merit Abbiati’s attention.
Philippe Mexes nearly headed the ball into his own net from a cross by Alves, but the ball went wide of the post, and the offside flag was raised in any case. El Shaarawy had a golden opportunity at creating something when he beat the offside trap off the back of Alves, but his touch in the box was too heavy and let Puyol clear behind goal. Kevin-Prince Boateng nearly scored from the resulting corner as well, when his flick/volley went just wide of the far post and could have possibly been headed in had it been a little squarer than it was.
The game continued to be exciting with Barca dominant in possession and Milan looking to hit them on the break, but neither team got a clear sight at goal. The next half chance only came around the 35th minute when a diagonal ball from Boateng across Barca’s box was merely inches away from the outstretched foot of Shaarawy. Thus, the score remained goalless heading into the break.
The second half began on a much quieter note than the first, thanks largely to the disciplined defending from the Milan side, while Barca continued to beat the same doors they had in the first half. 11 minutes into the half though, it was the home fans who were celebrating a fortuitous goal from Kevin-Prince Boateng, giving them the lead against the mighty Barcelona. An effort worked from a free kick took a deflection off Zapata’s body, onto his outstretched arm and fell for Boateng, who made no mistake putting it past Valdes into the bottom left corner of Barca’s goal. In spite of protests from the visitors, the goal stood and the Milan fans were soon voicing their joy in full strength.
MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 20: Sulley Muntari of AC Milan celebrates victory at the end of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg match between AC Milan and Barcelona
Giampaolo Pazzini was at the end of a third strong challenge in the space of fifteen minutes, with a clash of heads with Carles Puyol, and both players were in need of medical attention. More importantly though, Puyol, who was already on a yellow card, managed to stop Pazzini going clean through on goal, having won the ball, and escaped without a second booking. Andres Iniesta came close to pulling Barca level with an effort from about 30 yards out which was heading towards the far post, but always curling away from it.
Sulley Muntari made matters worse for the Spanish giants with a second goal for Milan ten minutes from time. It was an overall well-constructed goal from the Rossonieri, with an excellent reverse pass well picked and held up by Niang, before rolling it to Shaarawy, who flicked it up for Muntari to volley home. The rest of the game was all about seeing Barca off and keeping a clean sheet for Milan. Keep a clean sheet they did, and without breaking much of a sweat either, with Barcelona managing barely an attempt on target all game.
Result: AC Milan (Kevin Prince Boateng 56’, Sulley Muntari 81’) 2 – 0 Barcelona