Champions League (Matchday #5): Milan vs FC Barcelona

Filling in for the absent Khaled (lol)...


Your already know the drill. What are your thoughts, predictions, suggested lineups


Anyways Discuss.



Injury Note: Iniesta will not travel w/ team due to a thigh strain.

I hope it'll be a great game. Both teams are quality so we should be in for a treat.

A part of me is expecting you to smash them TBH though.

Well we're already qualified right?

I hope Ibra doesnt fake injuries by then

Lionel Messi wrote:Well we're already qualified right?

True but first place is still up for grabs, which is always a nice extra cushion.

If Pinto travels its enough. best part will be to watch ibra playing against barcelona.

Adit wrote:I hope Ibra doesnt fake injuries by then

Except he didn't play 3 weeks even after that.

OT:

GOALKEEPERS DEFENDERS MIDFIELDERS FORWARDS
Victor Valdés Gerard Piqué Cesc Fàbregas David Villa
José Manuel Pinto Carles Puyol Xavi Hernández Alexis Sánchez
Oier Olazábal Maxwell Thiago Alcântara Lionel Messi
Éric Abidal Javier Mascherano Pedro Rodríguez
Andreu Fontàs Seydou Keita Isaac Cuenca
Marc Bartra Sergio Busquets
Jonathan dos Santos

Full squad

Zlatans comments:
“It will be a very exciting, fantastic game. We will be playing against the best team in the world, without doubt,” Ibrahimovic, who had played one year at Barcelona, told Uefa.com. “Even when I left the team, I knew I’d left the best team in the world. But, I think the best solution for everyone was to leave the club.

“I think Milan are the biggest club I have ever played with. I felt at home from my 1st day – they welcomed me with open arms. This city is my second home after Malmo, where I was born and spent many years.

“I was looking forward to that match,” Ibra, who attacked Barcelona and their coach Pep Guardiola in his new autobiography, said of the first Barca game, which he missed. “I was training very hard but I got an injury the day before. I was disappointed, but for me playing against a former team is nothing personal. Of course it’s emotional, a big game, but in the end it’s like any other game. There’s no need to over-hype it.”

Zlatan, 30, has scored in all of Milan’s Champions League games in which he took part this season. “I think this game is more about prestige,” said the Swede striker, who still hasn’t won a UCL trophy in his career. “It’s good to come first, but sometimes it’s good to come second; both can be positive or negative.

“When you’re in the CL, you’re bound to meet a strong team, and to win the competition you will have to beat the strong teams. Now I just aim for all the trophies I can win. If I can win it, fine. Otherwise, nothing will bring my career down. All I ever tried to do was become a complete player and now I’m quite satisfied. And when you win trophies, it’s not because you’re the number one – it’s because your team is,” he added.


P.S OT: I will give my full thoughts tomorrow. And I expect an upset here. mark my words.

Zealous wrote:I hope it'll be a great game. Both teams are quality so we should be in for a treat.

A part of me is expecting you to smash them TBH though.

I have no idea why this was neg repped so I pos repped you lol

I expect nothing less than a differential scoreline of more than 2 goals in the favor of Barca

I look forward to a great, fantastic game. Having said that, i hope Milan beats Barca by no less than 3 goals


I am a Juventino but this game i'm rooting for Milan


Forza Rossoneri

Thiago (false RB)

Make it happen Pep!!!

Visca el Barca <3

Like I said about the first game, Milan play with no width. Without Alves, I see no reason why this isnt the way to play.

Best way to destroy a 4-3-1-2 is to play with excellent ball playing wing backs since they will be rarely marked.I cant see pep using a diamond 3-4-3 against a team who plays very narrow.
Milan will have the advantage if barca play that formation.

Its not a coincidence madrid,tottenham etc overcame Milan easily.They have pretty damn good wing players.

343 is better, because we would have maximum strength in the center of pitch and because Milan dont use the wings, they wont punish our lack of fullbacks.

You say having great fullbacks is best agaisnt a 4312 but thats not true for everyone. Our fullbacks will get space and time on the ball, then what? They will cross to midgets?

What advantage will Milan have vs 343?

We don't have wingers on paper,but ibra,tha CAM and specially pato drop to the winger positions,we often only have one person in the penalty box

Yes, but the point is, on counter attacks we arent going to spread out by two guys on each sideline who are fast and direct.

You have 2 strikers, we have 3 defenders. Numerical superority.

Wherever they move, we are covered.

You have a number 10, we have Busi.

The importance is, when your being pressed, our 343 will keep your under more pressure then our usual 433 because you dont have players who are always on the sideline.

Milan are more physically fit though IMO. Playing a narrow diamond in midfield would be exactly what Milan would want Barca to do.

More solid wing play plus overlapping fullbacks is the best way to deal with Milan.

If Barca think they can just plough through Milan they will not like the outcome. Milan keep their shape very well and I expect Barca's midfield to be not at their best as a result.

The game will be won or lost depending on how well Barca can:

A) Stretch Milan's formation with overlapping play.

B) Avoiding Milan's main strengths, Pace through the middle and set plays.

If Pep gets it right it'll be a good game for Barca, if not then Milan have more than a chance to cause the upset.

The Franchise wrote:343 is better, because we would have maximum strength in the center of pitch and because Milan dont use the wings, they wont punish our lack of fullbacks.

You say having great fullbacks is best agaisnt a 4312 but thats not true for everyone. Our fullbacks will get space and time on the ball, then what? They will cross to midgets?

What advantage will Milan have vs 343?

I just dont see how a narrow playing Milan side will have problem playing a barcelona with out wing backs.Also in defense it will be 3 vs 2 which is pretty much a dangerous situation for any team.Busquet will be occupied,3 others will be marked by number of DMs milan have..and also Messi will have less freedom playing in a crowded midfield,which i think will not be a problem in 4-3-3.Wing backs having ball means barca will gain possession with ease contrary to 343 which requires constant midfield battle and movement which not only tire out players but also prone to mistakes which can not be afforded in a 343.

You guys are talking about it as if Madrid, Manchester or some other team were playing Milan... this is Barca. Its very difficult to get behind the defence with wing play because teams just sit back against us and as said we don't have height in the box either. Most other teams are constructed to be able to counter on the wings against a narrow team, but not Barca.

Stretching the play is the priority but it is not necessarily done by the fullbacks, we should still be able to control the spaces and stretch their play.

3-4-3 or 4-3-3 I'm not too fussed.

In Alves’ absence I endorse the 3-4-3. Maximum midfield capacity with Xavi’s passing, Thiago’s dribbling and Cesc’s “hidden forward” moves while Buschets anchors.
We need all our big guns if we are to dominate the midfield in Milan. Without Alves I don’t see how we benefit with a 4-3-3

If the 3-4-3 had wing backs (Like with Napoli) then I would agree with Franchise. But the problem is that his formation has 4 cm's in it and no wide players except Villa and Pedro.

Milan would have a lot less trouble dealing with that sort of set up. If the "4" in the 3-4-3 had two wide players in it then Milan would have much more trouble.

BarcaKizz wrote:You guys are talking about it as if Madrid, Manchester or some other team were playing Milan... this is Barca. Its very difficult to get behind the defence with wing play because teams just sit back against us and as said we don't have height in the box either. Most other teams are constructed to be able to counter on the wings against a narrow team, but not Barca.

Stretching the play is the priority but it is not necessarily done by the fullbacks, we should still be able to control the spaces and stretch their play.

3-4-3 or 4-3-3 I'm not too fussed.

A Barca side that couldn't beat this Milan at home because they couldn't stretch them out of shape, and they didn't even play that narrow 3-4-3 Franchise is proposing.

Creating 2v1 situations on the flanks should be Barca's priority IMO. It'll make life much easier for them. Of course Messi could very well end up playing the "get out of jail free" card in the end but the right tactical set up makes Pep's life much easier IMO.

Milan will sit deep at first but I expect them to press in the second half just like they did in the first game. That's why your "they will sit deep so wing play won't work" argument is flawed imo.

For some reason I have faith in Thiago’s dribbling ability which can serve him well if he plays wide.
He has done so in the league. Midfielders creating space for the full backs to run forward would be optimal but with Alves away I don’t see who can fill the gap.
Also since the spaces will be as tight as it gets I think we need all midfield creativity we can get

That makes sense I guess.

It should be interesting to see what happens.

Adit wrote:

The Franchise wrote:343 is better, because we would have maximum strength in the center of pitch and because Milan dont use the wings, they wont punish our lack of fullbacks.

You say having great fullbacks is best agaisnt a 4312 but thats not true for everyone. Our fullbacks will get space and time on the ball, then what? They will cross to midgets?

What advantage will Milan have vs 343?

I just dont see how a narrow playing Milan side will have problem playing a barcelona with out wing backs.Also in defense it will be 3 vs 2 which is pretty much a dangerous situation for any team.Busquet will be occupied,3 others will be marked by number of DMs milan have..and also Messi will have less freedom playing in a crowded midfield,which i think will not be a problem in 4-3-3.Wing backs having ball means barca will gain possession with ease contrary to 343 which requires constant midfield battle and movement which not only tire out players but also prone to mistakes which can not be afforded in a 343.

We will have possession anyway, because Milan will be in their own half not trying to win it of us.

Our 3 defenders become RB,CB and LB with the ball, so we will have the same outlets.

3 v 2 at the back is the same as 2 v 1 in terms of safety...which is what we normally have.

There will be no midfield battle, because while their DM is covering between the lines you have Xavi and Thiago who will float around. If the Milan mid go on to them, it creates more space for the DM to cover against both Cesc and Messi.

I dont see why creating 2 v 1 in the fullback position is important to us.

Talking about what other teams have done to Milan is irrelevant, because we play nothing like those teams.

We had 2 v 1 on the wings in the first game, all that space did was give us the chance to cross balls. Which is something we dont and didnt do.

No matter our formation, Milan will be deep and allow us space wide. Teams defend narrow and allow that space because we never use it.