Re: Milan v Barcelona Thread

[dostoevsky]

Two other sources work out to 6:45 am.

[The Franchise]

Puyol wont play rightback, im 99% sure.

Adriano is more likely or even Maxwell. Just thought I add that.

edit-

Then again, you boys dont play with wingers and we are away from home, so Pep might consider Puyol.

Perhaps 99% isnt right, lets say 80% sure.

Adriano is what I would expect, however the combination of newspaper reports and your own discussion thread has me wondering whether there's any reason why he wouldn't have Pep's confidence. Perhaps to better deal with Ibrahimovic when he pulls wide?

Seedorf as an achor as per Iras' suggestion is an intriguing one, as arguably the role of deep midfielders against this type of opposition requires through interception, pressure, strong decision making and an ability to hold the ball under pressure, allowing for the substitution of the normal defensive hardman for a disciplined and tactically astute player rather than a smooth criminal.

Would I pursue the option? Given our options to flank our anchor, I would not risk Seedorf despite his heart and undeniable class. It's an idea which has merit and deserves appreciation, however whilst I would be quite willing to test the idea in the second half, the pragmatist in me requires that we see out the group without humiliation first and I'm still not convinced of our ability to create against Barcelona, so in the mean time I want to make damn well sure they're going to struggle to score.

Zealous' two points effectively describe our goals from Spain, however exploiting once more the first option requires our midfield to show sharpness which I'm not sure we're capable of. Scoring from set pieces is something we've improved upon dramatically this year, however whilst we need to make the most of these opportunities, the mark of our ability to compete in Europe will be marked by our ability to exploit the strength of our spine, however at the moment creatively, it's marred by a horrific twist.

Finally, before the season I spoke of the possibility of using Ibrahimovic as a super-substitute in Europe, a force creative and powerful from the bench whose physique and technique would be able to probe the weaknesses of the tired legs of our opponents and revel in an extra yard of space he will be able to create. The likes of Barcelona were in my mind when I made that comment, however given that this is the group stage, I believe it's a game Ibrahimovic must start in order for our observation, whilst our options have generally diminished in this area.

Failing everything else, Abate uses his pace to get to the byline then we play around with it long enough for Boateng to get into space twenty-thirty yards out to take pot shots.

A party ensues. :king:

I think Adriano is injured, dont think he is in the squad.

[Ganso]

lets give them hell like again man u

[tahaa89]

Does anyone know what time this match will be on in Australia

I know its on SBS at 6:30am but I wanna watch the live match and not the delayed broadcast

Where from Australia are you? I live in Perth and it's 3.45am in Perth, which means it's 6:45am in Sydney and Melbourne, if your in Adelaide then it's at 5.45am, oh and if your watching it on SBS they Preview the game 15mins before time, so that's why it says 6.30am on SBS... Wish you got this message and watch it live, forza Milan

[Dante]

Well, what a thrilling game! Milan-Barcelona..!
Every time i have seen these teams play against each other, well , it's just pleasure and pure agony both at the same time. This time i reckon it will have less of agony, though i hope the same joy.

Let's get straight into it..
We have Pato back , which is encouraging news.
They have both Pique and Puyol now ,making them even stronger at the back , so better in general. We face the best once again, but we can try and outsmart-outdo them when we can,particularly in the middle..

The truth is ,that's not gonna happen. So what we should do , if we cannot challenge their passing game ,which is the fundation of their football?

In my opinion, we should play "static football" as much as we can.! Call me crazy , but i think this could work.. If we play like that , they will have no choice but to run more with the ball than pass it around freely and erase every single plan Milan could have deployed . If we manage to make the match going in slow tempo,they can have all possession in the world if they want.As minutes go by , if we not concede first , they will get tired while we get ready.I just hope Pato or Ibra shows up today. We will need the best of them tonight.

They want possession , we (should)want control of the tempo; whose football will overcome the other ? can't wait to find out

[Cotes]

The ref. is playing for Barca!
& the damn commentators are just counting Milan out!

[harhar11]

You are playing better than I expected

On the penalty, Xavi went down easily and probably shouldn't have been but don't forget that we should have had a penalty in the camp nou for the foul that Nocerino made on pedro and none of the barca fans blamed the ref for the draw nor did we say that milan robbed us. So I hope that you make the same.

PS: What a great game!

[Ganso]

great game indeed.seriously though,that was not a pen.xavi dove....

[Baraa]

great game indeed.seriously though,that was not a pen.xavi dove....

u should get used to it when u play against barca.

[BiasedMilanFan3]

gg no re

[harhar11]

Although that bodyslam on fabregas without getting the ball was a certain penalty

Anyway, great game and you guys played great and you didn't even have to pay a half a billion to play toe to toe against us unlike a certain team

Cheers lad

[Baraa]

Although that bodyslam on fabregas without getting the ball was a certain penalty

Anyway, great game and you guys played great and you didn't even have to pay a half a billion to play toe to toe against us unlike a certain team

Cheers lad

not toe to toe , better.

[jibers]

Unlucky boys, we played with out hearts on our sleeves against UEFA 1st 11. Unfortunately their best player on the pitch #12, the referee dictated their game like a master conductor. He desreved MOTM.

[BiasedMilanFan3]

Fellas... C'mon
Leave the Barca v Madrid debates in the Barca v Madrid section (general football discussion section)

[Cookie Monster]

Well, it was definitely a fantastic game. Tbh I thought both teams matched up pretty evenly. Considering two goals came from Messi's brilliance and the other was a non-existent penalty. If you think that was a penalty then eff you lol. Anyways, aside from the referee having a boner for Barca and Xavi's dive, it was a really well played game by both teams.

Do you guys think that Milan's performance over both games solidifies them as possible CL contenders? Certainly we're not favourites, but I do consider us to be among the best teams in the world atm, behind Barca, Madrid, and Bayern. That being said, the team does have flaws that need to be addressed. If a midfielder or two are bought in January we may have chance. Personally, I'm hoping for a semi-final finish.

Anyways, great game boys.

[dostoevsky]

Excellent game, if naturally disappointing.

Still can't believe Valdes tried to claim that wasn't a corner after he fell over.

Also we don't need General section arguments in here, keep the Refcelona stuff to what is pertinent to the game - which isn't much. Bad decisions occur all the time.

[Baraa]

u have a great team indeed , u should be proud.
losing to these guys is not something huge as they are always playing with 12 players on the pitch.

[Seth]

Still a little bit peeved that had Xavi did not fall, pens would probably not given and Abbiati would've gotten the ball

On another hand... I can't bear the thought of having Bonera for the next few matches =(

Please recover fast Nesta....

[Ganso]

boateng and silva motm for us imo.nesta was kind of sloppy,so was aquilani and MVB.robinho .Ibra was great.Pato didnt get service at all.Seed was ok.Abbiatii was great too,almost saved the pen.

I think we can go far in this CL,as long as we avoid Madrid and specially Bayern early.We are much better than last year.

[harhar11]

Well, it was definitely a fantastic game. Tbh I thought both teams matched up pretty evenly. Considering two goals came from Messi's brilliance and the other was a non-existent penalty. If you think that was a penalty then eff you lol. Anyways, aside from the referee having a boner for Barca and Xavi's dive, it was a really well played game by both teams.

Do you guys think that Milan's performance over both games solidifies them as possible CL contenders? Certainly we're not favourites, but I do consider us to be among the best teams in the world atm, behind Barca, Madrid, and Bayern. That being said, the team does have flaws that need to be addressed. If a midfielder or two are bought in January we may have chance. Personally, I'm hoping for a semi-final finish.

Anyways, great game boys.

Im a Barca fan, so im obvious biased, but even then I will admit that that was never a penalty BUT that bodycheck on fabregas in the 2nd half was a certain one!

[dostoevsky]

They're not playing with 12 on the pitch, however there's no real shame in losing to Barcelona. It's not an attitude that our team should take, however it is one for the fans. The loss cost us nothing, we have valuable experience of playing them now and it will hopefully be a confidence boost for the knockout stages.

We definitely need to tighten up at the back, however I saw enough to suggest that we can do well against another great team, particularly after the January window. We're not close to winning this competition, however we can put in a good show.

Also in case any of you need this for the General Section, just copy the URL from this:

[estrella bernabeu]

Sorry guys but your Midfield was totally absent. there was no pressing, no B2B marking and Robinho was crapy as hell indeed.
Messi was free, Xavi very comfortable with the ball and that was the break point. You should have played on counter attacks, we all saw that Barça defence was so weack.

Otherwise, you have a great team, you need to fix your mid and i guess we'll meet in the second round

[Guest]

yea, i think we need midfielders, and bit of concentration. we played pretty good, considering that we are against best side in the world, and messi alone is the difference maker of barcelona.

really, i mean the goal we conceded, could have been avoided. and also we again lost concentration and gave ball away cheaply, if milan can work on avoiding those mistakes, milan can do really well in CL.

i hope milan can finish upto semi final. to win CL is a big ask ... we still lack some quality, also ageing players are factors. we still are not in the level of barca, real, bayern manutd... there is still so much to improve

[Tigole]

I think the team played with pride and gave it their all, and it must be said that with some winter reinforcements we can go all the way in whatever competition. What really irks me is the ease in which the Barca players drop; it can get really annoying. However, I must commend Allegri since he really didn't let us down!

[Guest]

I think the team played with pride and gave it their all, and it must be said that with some winter reinforcements we can go all the way in whatever competition. What really irks me is the ease in which the Barca players drop; it can get really annoying. However, I must commend Allegri since he really didn't let us down!

agreed man.. i also wished milan played with some pride and dignity, they did exactly that. a determined performance from us, even though we are no match to the likes of messi and xavi. all of our players deserve praise

robinho needs to spend few bloody hours practising fininishing...

[Ganso]

Allegri was great,but he should have started Pato.Hes not only our big game player but our best finisher too.Who knows what could have happened if he started.

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