FC Barcelona - AC Milan | Tue March 12th | Champions League 2nd Leg

15:45 EST | 19:45 GMT | 20:45 CET

Will be on a plane when this is going on but go Barca

Its gonna be a pathetic scene watching our little players try to breach a 5-man midfield brickwall comprised of;


----nocerino----------------------------boateng
----------muntari--ambrosini--montolivo---------

So what's good self-medication for anxiety?

Fml... This is going to be hell, dunno if ill get to sleep before.

---------------Valdes----------------
----Puyol-----Pique---Mascherano--
----------------Busi------------------
---------Xavi-------------Iniesta-----
---------------Fabregas-------------
----Pedro-------Messi--------Vila---

Really have no idea how to approach this game but I'm sure Milan are just going to park it.
3-4-3 with three forwards (not Iniesta on one wing) could the job. Tbh, I don't want Fab to start but I can't help but feel both Villa and him will start together given they both came off (assuming for rest of course). If Fab plays, play him in the role that he succeeds the most and thats in that number 10 position. Question is that whether our backs and Busi can hold us.

Sadly, I've accepted our defeat

Horrible, horrible. This is going to be the worse week of my entire year

No expectations so no worries.
Saddest thing is that they will park the space buss so the game will be the epitome of boredom.
All I can do is wish upon a star that this time we actually get to learn from our mistakes

If you guys score a quick goal then it's all to play for again imo.

But obviously you really have to avoid conceding. That should be priority number one.

Only way i see us going through is by scoring from long ranges, something we somewhat suck at. Must try to dribble close from their box to win some freekicks and hope Messi and/or Xavi score from them.

Otherwise, it's Chelsea/Inter all over again.

I would go with this:


The handy thing about this formation is it is very flexible. Can quickly become our standard 4-3-3 or a 3-3-4.

Depending on what is working, we can always switch straight back to standard

According to EL Mundo Deportivo, 9 players are confirmed to start the match: Valdes, Pique, Puyol, Alba, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pedro and Messi.

Also suggested that Roura is intending to play a 3-4-3.

Yeah I like that, im with you on it Kizz for all those reasons.

Basically Chiles old 3313. Alves and Tello are deeper in yours but the way they will play they will end up higher up the pitch than Messi.

I think this should be our go to second formation permantly honestly.

Though for me, I am fully aware this wont happen. Alba and Pedro didnt start for a reason against Depor, both will be in.

Which to me is quite shocking the ease in which they mantain places in the 11 despite not performing well individually for a heck of a long time.

I saw an interview with Dani Alves on TV. Had no idea he could speak that well. Said that only when we play with pace and tempo then we become the team we are but otherwise we are just any other team. If we play that way then there is still a chance. No question of blaming Tito's departure or Roura's inexperience for anything. It's the players who must take responsibility, stand up and deliver.

Deja Vu wrote:According to EL Mundo Deportivo, 9 players are confirmed to start the match: Valdes, Pique, Puyol, Alba, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pedro and Messi.

Also suggested that Roura is intending to play a 3-4-3.

How can Dani Alves not be confirmed ??? He has perhaps been our best player in the last few weeks. Contrary to my usual thoughts I wouldn't mind a 3 man defense this time. We are in a last chance saloon with nothing to lose. If you have to go out then go out fighting. Try something new rather than the same stuff which teams will come 99.99% prepared for. However the third defender has to be Alves and not Alba.

Alves will start. There is no way he doesn't.

alves certainly has talked enough to the media about winning lol so it'd be weird if he doesn't start.
would prefer Adriano over Alba though.

This tie is over and formations don't even matter. Look at Real Madrid. Over 150 minutes they only scored 1 goal against United when United had 11 men on the pitch. Madrid play very direct football with tall and strong players and a real centerforward. Still couldn't break United down. Or Bayern against Chelsea last season for that matter. They looked as clueless as Barca (if not more) against 11 bodies behind the ball. When your opponent just sets up to get 11 men behind the ball it doesn't matter if you play 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3, counterattacking football, direct football, wingplay, tiki-taka or whatever. You'll inevitably struggle to get into the box and score goals and Barca need 3 of them (most likely 4, when did Barca EVER keep a clean sheet in a CL knockout tie? Not even in games which were total domination like the 2011 CL final).

well anything is possible and we shall wait and see how it goes.
If Messi and company have a good day then maybe we can outscore the tie lol

futbol wrote:This tie is over and formations don't even matter. Look at Real Madrid. Over 150 minutes they only scored 1 goal against United when United had 11 men on the pitch. Madrid play very direct football with tall and strong players and a real centerforward. Still couldn't break United down. Or Bayern against Chelsea last season for that matter. They looked as clueless as Barca (if not more) against 11 bodies behind the ball. When your opponent just sets up to get 11 men behind the ball it doesn't matter if you play 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3, counterattacking football, direct football, wingplay, tiki-taka or whatever. You'll inevitably struggle to get into the box and score goals and Barca need 3 of them (most likely 4, when did Barca EVER keep a clean sheet in a CL knockout tie? Not even in games which were total domination like the 2011 CL final).

Pretty bad parallel considering neither of those teams play like Barca or Milan.

I think there is a collective bad feeling on here, but I'd rather them try and lose again than throw in the towel. We need to do everything we can.

We need luck for sure. Usually teams against us need luck but this time around we need luck. Early red card, lack of organisation in the Milan backline and midfield... Our defense is organised, no mistakes when it comes to positioning, create and take our chances.
We jsut need luck and to play to the system

BarcaKizz wrote:

futbol wrote:This tie is over and formations don't even matter. Look at Real Madrid. Over 150 minutes they only scored 1 goal against United when United had 11 men on the pitch. Madrid play very direct football with tall and strong players and a real centerforward. Still couldn't break United down. Or Bayern against Chelsea last season for that matter. They looked as clueless as Barca (if not more) against 11 bodies behind the ball. When your opponent just sets up to get 11 men behind the ball it doesn't matter if you play 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-4-3, counterattacking football, direct football, wingplay, tiki-taka or whatever. You'll inevitably struggle to get into the box and score goals and Barca need 3 of them (most likely 4, when did Barca EVER keep a clean sheet in a CL knockout tie? Not even in games which were total domination like the 2011 CL final).

Pretty bad parallel considering neither of those teams play like Barca or Milan.

I think there is a collective bad feeling on here, but I'd rather them try and lose again than throw in the towel. We need to do everything we can.

Agreed. We need to put our best 11 out and go down trying. It's the CL, after all. Anything can happen and we aren't out yet.

However I do think the tie is pretty much over. But a small part of me thinks maybe, just maybe we could pull it out.

Wish I could watch the game

Hope we score early. Or atleast get to 1-0 by halftime. If not I will feel less confident starting the 2nd

you should expect world class players to keep a clean sheet as well as have chances in front of goal and bury them no matter the history record

from my point of you a goal will improve your chances drastically, it will give you confidence as well as disorientate them
nothing is over lol.. you will both aim to score, if you do it first then the tie automatically goes 50/50.
you can also rely to individual magic, who knows? messi might be on his best day then nothing will stop him,
here is hoping for an exciting game.

Since pessimism and complaining about our problems seems the order of the day... Have a read of my latest article discussing our key problems right now. I think you'll enjoy it.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1563264-4-biggest-reasons-for-barcelonas-slip-in-form

Width is the main to be be addressed tonight... I've got a horrid feeling Alexis or Cesc will play.

Its quite possible..1 goal in first half is enough to qualify. Second goal is not important. Milan's players are not experienced they will do mistakes under pressure

BarcaKizz wrote:Since pessimism and complaining about our problems seems the order of the day... Have a read of my latest article discussing our key problems right now. I think you'll enjoy it.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1563264-4-biggest-reasons-for-barcelonas-slip-in-form

Width is the main to be be addressed tonight... I've got a horrid feeling Alexis or Cesc will play.

Nice read Kizz, good points in there for sure. I would point out the "quality of opponant" thing though because we beat Benfica and Atletico, two teams much much stronger than Celtic and having a better season (while maybe too having more quality) than Milan.


I would also say, the biggest reason which tops it all is we are having a crisis of style. We dont play on our style of football with consistency, and during the Milan-Madrid games hardly at all.

Watch those games and compare them to our other games, especially other seasons, its horrific in comparison. The speed of decisions, the amount of touches used, the weight of pass, the amount of dribbling...

We play games from the start of them, like we are winning 4-0.