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

As I said before, Messi and the defence are the problems to be rectified.

I expect Pep to act on the defence problem pretty quickly as it will sew up this game. Puyol hasn't been great and hasn't convinced me on that right side. Looks slow and unconvincing 1v1 and isn't able to use his real defensive skills. I'd bring on Pique as soon as possible and I also wonder why Montoya wasn't brought on this trip...

As for Messi, I'd bring him centrally. He's offered little wide, while Cesc hasn't been great through the middle. Villa's also been quite poor, but he's still offering a good outlet and just needs to put one in to get his confidence back. For me, he's hardly match fit... hasn't even been playing. Bring Sanchez on for Cesc in my opinion. This would also help our defence as Sanchez offers loads more defensively.

Thiago's been the best player on the park... what a star.

My 2nd half team...

This or... just bring on Pique into a 4-3-3.

That one was a penalty though

Valdes at fault for both goals

harhar11 wrote:Valdes at fault for both goals

He's saved our lives numerous times already, I'll definitely forgive him for just one bad game.

That pass from Messi

shinigami99 wrote:

harhar11 wrote:Valdes at fault for both goals

He's saved our lives numerous times already, I'll definitely forgive him for just one bad game.

That pass from Messi

I'm just talking about today mate

I know that Valdes has already saved us countless of times this season, let alone the past 4 season. So don't think that I am implying that Valdes suck.

Messi is indeed!

Edit: I think that you can change your .gif today with the tackle that mascherano made on robinho

harhar11 wrote:

shinigami99 wrote:

harhar11 wrote:Valdes at fault for both goals

He's saved our lives numerous times already, I'll definitely forgive him for just one bad game.

That pass from Messi

I'm just talking about today mate

I know that Valdes has already saved us countless of times this season, let alone the past 4 season. So don't think that I am implying that Valdes suck.

Messi is indeed!

Edit: I think that you can change your .gif today with the tackle that mascherano made on robinho

As soon as I find it I'll use it

Masch

Great game, you have to give credit to Milan. If it ended a draw, I wouldnt of had any complaints.

Almost want to praise them, some of their players really did well. Boateng for example, great skill for his goal. Ibra won every long ball and help it up.

But for us, why did Puyol play right and Mascherano center? Mascherano owned for every long ball to Ibra and Puyol doesnt have the mobility for 1 v 1 defending anymore. Those two should of been swapper around.

I like Keita when he plays leftcenter mid, as Kizz said he actually offers something there.

We really missed Pique, Alves defensively.

Pep risked losing the game by not shoring up the defence in my opinion, but a great game all round and for the neutrals this gave Milan a chance.

As I said, all the way back when we drew at the Camp Nou, Milan would open up a little more and we would beat them. I hate to say I told you so

Good to see Puyol get some big game time under his belt, we'll need him against Madrid.

Valdes wasn't great no, made some good saves and superb on the ball, but his positioning for the goals and his blunder to let them have a corner bring his overall game down.

Xavi was superb. Ultimate big game player.

Keita at LCM is a fantastic tactical option and I'm very happy we still have him.

Thiago The kid is a genious...

Cesc was meh again, and has been quite often when he can't score. Offers the odd good ball.

I know some may criticise Villa, but I thought he was good. His finishing is horrid right now, and he needs to rediscover his scoring boots, we really need his radar on for Madrid and later in the season. However, he offered a great outlet down the left, consistently stretched play, pinned back Abate, had some nice chances and got into scoring positions. Excellent in the second half, his 1-2 with Xavi summed up his game for me, excellent touches and intelligence before blazing wide...

For me, the forward-line is what we must solve for Madrid. Messi is a given, but Cesc, Villa, Sanchez and Pedro could all be there. In fact... I would really consider playing Thiago as a winger actually. If Villa can rediscover his goals he should start, but otherwise we really miss Pedro. Pedro must also rediscover his form. Sanchez offers a whole lot of workrate and really unsettled Marcelo, but it all comes down to form for me. Hopefully we play 4-3-3, because a 3-4-3 against Madrid would be suicide and the front three should be Messi, plus Pedro, Villa, Sanchez or Thiago in my opinion.

The Franchise wrote:Great game, you have to give credit to Milan. If it ended a draw, I wouldnt of had any complaints.

Almost want to praise them, some of their players really did well. Boateng for example, great skill for his goal. Ibra won every long ball and help it up.

But for us, why did Puyol play right and Mascherano center? Mascherano owned for every long ball to Ibra and Puyol doesnt have the mobility for 1 v 1 defending anymore. Those two should of been swapper around.

I like Keita when he plays leftcenter mid, as Kizz said he actually offers something there.

We really missed Pique, Alves defensively.

Exactly what I was saying. Very reassuring that you agree with me I think its interesting so many were saying Puyol could play RB if we played a 4-3-3 but in my opinion he should not play fullback again. I don't really want him playing in a 3 man defence much either actually... Pique is our big game central man and Alves, Abidal and Masch are all superior to the sides.

You and I have both highlighted exactly why Puyol can't play there anymore.

Fantastic game, especailly the second half. Watched at work without sound. I noticed as soon as Sanchez come in, our tempo sky rocketed.

thanks barca fans for ur kind appreciation. i guess our team can learn fair few from messi xavi iniesta fabregas. and personally i dont think barca played with full potential... i think they played against us with some respect, and it showed,

seedorf messi embraces, when nesta went down, barca players kind concerns, puyol ibra they were playing like friends.

Good game overall barca fans.

Lets not meet again though lol

Zealous wrote:

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.

Who is this tactical genius

I surely hope we don't meet Milan any time soon mainly because I want them to go really far.

Zealous wrote:

Zealous wrote:

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.

Who is this tactical genius

Well... I don't really see any tactical genius in your comments haha. You had great comments but I don't really think you were completely correct sorry.

2v1 situations on the flanks? We never did that... we just beat them with passing quality and patience.

Get out of jail free card? No, we created plenty of chances and should have scored more tbh, overall score should have been 5-3 or something. We were going to score at some point.

First Barca goal stretched Milan's back line then quickly moved the ball to the other side of the field where Milan were exposed.

Third Barca goal, the "get out of jail free" card I was talking about. Through balls like that are not common, if they were something like it would have happened more than once in the game.

The added comment that I wasn't expecting MIlan to sit deep for the whole game, which they didn't.

Barca could have made this much easier for them selves IMO. Every time a quick ball was played towards the wing from the outside they looked dangerous. When the ball was played through the middle Barca still showed quality but it was something Milan could deal with more easily.

Milan's false pressing helped them out as well, in addition to long diagonal balls (Barca's lack of natural width didn't help them here).

I read this game perfectly IMO

Zealous wrote:Who is this tactical genius

Go home Zeal..

+1 for Ronaldo smiley xD

Anyway congrats Cules, I'll go gloat in the Madrid section

Zealous wrote:First Barca goal stretched Milan's back line then quickly moved the ball to the other side of the field where Milan were exposed.

Third Barca goal, the "get out of jail free" card I was talking about. Through balls like that are not common, if they were something like it would have happened more than once in the game.

The added comment that I wasn't expecting MIlan to sit deep for the whole game, which they didn't.

Barca could have made this much easier for them selves IMO. Every time a quick ball was played towards the wing from the outside they looked dangerous. When the ball was played through the middle Barca still showed quality but it was something Milan could deal with more easily.

Milan's false pressing helped them out as well, in addition to long diagonal balls (Barca's lack of natural width didn't help them here).

I read this game perfectly IMO

OK, I understand what you mean. Tbf the first goal wasn't really a stretching of the defence through passing it to the wings, it was Thiago retrieving the ball and then a good passing move.

However, yes, we did look quite dangerous when we countered down the wings, but when Milan were organised not really. I agree though, perhaps we should have put it out to the wings a little more quickly, but this is the way Barca play, its about patience.

This doesn't have anything to do with tactics, but it still wasn't a 'get out of jail free card' in my opinion. As Barca fans we are actually lucky to see Messi do that sort of pass at least once a game, not to mention that Xavi normally does a few and Cesc, Iniesta and Xavi are all capable. Truth is... we do actually see that often lol. I understand what you mean, Messi quality helped win the match, but thats what he was there for. Messi and Xavi are our big game men, and both stepped up today to win us the match. We controlled the game, created plenty of chances and in the end we won, it wasn't an 'escape' in my opinion, I always thought we were going to win it.

Yes. Milan came out a lot more in this game, I did predict this too actually However, they didn't play a high line and when organised they were deep. Its standard. What I did forget was this match didn't mean a lot, so Milan played with even more freedom than I expected and we did exploit this, though not with wing play in my opinion.

Zealous wrote:
I read this game perfectly IMO

Are you actually bowing to yourself?

People hate me because I'm rich, handsome and talented

Spot on stuff Kizz. Left me with nothing to say.

Zeal, you said 2 v 1 in the flanks. That didnt happen.

The goal came from Messi who drifted in, Xavi and Villa went in to leave space for Keita who ran in and then squared. I am not seeing the 2 v 1.

In fact, I think I was correct. We played 343 because pressured the center and nearly everything they did was long balls. Also, all 3 goals came from people making runs through the center of the pitch, those being midfielders.

Xavi for the pen and his goal, Xavi and Keita for the 1st goal.

Those players were allowed to make those runs because they had an extra man in there.

Zealous wrote:People hate me because I'm rich, handsome and talented

Zealous is humble and respectful.

The Franchise wrote:Spot on stuff Kizz. Left me with nothing to say.

Zeal, you said 2 v 1 in the flanks. That didnt happen.

The goal came from Messi who drifted in, Xavi and Villa went in to leave space for Keita who ran in and then squared. I am not seeing the 2 v 1.

In fact, I think I was correct. We played 343 because pressured the center and nearly everything they did was long balls. Also, all 3 goals came from people making runs through the center of the pitch, those being midfielders.

Xavi for the pen and his goal, Xavi and Keita for the 1st goal.

Those players were allowed to make those runs because they had an extra man in there.

Well not in the traditional sense since it came from a corner. It started as a 2v1 from the short corner iirc. Zambrotta had to go out and meet them. This pulled Milan's back four towards the ball (Like I said they hold formation very well).

Ball comes to Messi who sees Abidal in acres of space on the other side. (A fantastic dummy run pulls Milan's defence away even more).

It was a bit convoluted but it had the same out come as a typical 2v1 situation i.e. through ball to wide player running into space who then proceeds to cross the ball into a dangerous area. I probably should have made a mention of that in my first post though, so sorry about that

You were right about the playing from the centre but then again I never disagreed with you on that. Barca have the quality to do that. I was just saying that a different strategy could have given Milan a much much harder time.

Milan's false pressing made the game a much more even contest when it could have been a routine win. (Boateng wonder goal aside). Their long balls seemed desperate at first but then became a legitimate strategy as the game went on what with Ibra winning everything in the air. Milan's first goal also came from a long ball over the top.

Barca third goal was "get out of jail free" card I was talking about. Things like that only have to come off once in football in order to win you the game, but it doesn't make it a legitimate strategy. But that isn't a bad thing by any means. Essentially Barca didn't try to exploit Milan's biggest weakness that much and yet still won. Just a measure of their quality I guess.

Understood Zeal, certaintly agree.

I think the long balls worked for Milan becuase Ibra is very good at that and always will be. Cominbed with no Pique and Mascherano being his main marker it was easy for him.

The first goal was as you say. I think it could of bee avoided because Puyol was too far inside and gave Robinho (I think it was him) much too much space. Probably fear of 1 v 1.

Overall both of those things could of been solved with Puyol and Mascherano swapping. Pep made a small mistake there I think.

Puyol might not of beat Ibra in the air, but he is very annoying and has a die hard attitude with more size then Mascherano. He could of made it a little more different for Ibra. Also, Mascherano has more mobililty then Puyi now so he would of been more suited to the rightsided role.

Anyway, I think both us are right, just in different ways. I wasnt surprised we didnt exploit Milans weaknesses of flank. We alway play our way, even if on paper it isnt the most logical. We are "one dimensional" in that way, but clearly nearly always effective.

I am done with Milan, not really intrested in playing them again. They make the game very complicated.

Also, while they lack speed in certain areas they have old guys who are just so smart.

At least half a dozen times Zambrotta or Seedorf were outmatched by Messi in a 1 v 1 type situation. But they know how to use their body and position themselves to draw contact which called as a foul. Such high footballing I.Q´s.