Barcelona vs Ac Milan - The clash of the titans

[Kastriot]

I was surprised not to see a thread about the game.

Lets circle around some thoughts, it the biggest test of our season. This game will answer most of our questions during the summer.

[Hitman]

i think its best to delete the Champions League sub thread and simply include our CL games in the games thread... just my opinion.....


and about the game, ahh well its better to get this game out the way asap and try to lose to the smallest possible difference to save some face..... we dont stand a chance with our midfield

[reza]

i think its best to delete the Champions League sub thread and simply include our CL games in the games thread... just my opinion.....

I have no problems with that suggestion, what do others think? The distinction (subforum) wasn't much of a success in the old times either. By success I mean subforum is less 'visible'. There is the option to make it its own forum (not subforum) too. By the way, for now I am moving the thread to the subforum

About the game, takes a lot of optimism to believe we can beat Barca at this point, of course anything can happen but I don't think there is much chance.

[Best-Pundit]

AC Milan went to Santiago Bernabeu & defeated a very strong Real Madrid side. History will repeat its self & this time it will be another Spanish giants at the receiving end. I am always confident against other teams, its just the English clubs that have made life miserable for ACM in the recent Champions League history, even pathetic teams like Arsenal & Tottenham.

---

But on second thoughts, can we just put two left fullbacks to cope with Messi & Pedro? I mean 1 Antonini or Zambrotta against Messi + Pedro is just not right, isn't it? Its unfair. Maybe for once Platini would allow AC Milan to play with 12 players to make it an even contest. That is what the fans & audience want, rite?

[ACM1899]

I think a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1 against Barca.

With the ladder one being R70-Cassano-Aqua behind Ibra

Or the 4 of Prince-R70-Cassano-Aqua behind Ibra and Pato. We will get murdered with a 4-3-1-2 against their mids speed and passing skills.

[zlatanov]

Not sure it would matter what tactical formation or set of players we play in this game - if anything, the match vs Lazio showed the team just isn't ready physically and mentally sharp enough yet for a game of this caliber. I think the lack of competitive games going into the Barca one would be detrimental for us and expect us to look lost and confused against them - anything less than a 4-5 goal diff loss would surprise me considering many of our best players aren't at the top of their game yet ... and even if they were, we'd still have had a hard time keeping them at bay considering our best starting midfield today is no different than what it was last year - with 3, 34-35 yo players at its heart.
Add to that MvB, Ambro, Nesta, Ibra playing a full game today and looking slow and tired for the last 20 min of the game, Boateng probably not at his best with a couple of injuries on top and Zambro being 34 yo and maybe barely healthy to make the game, nothing nice to look forward to, to be honest.

Either way, the game has to be played and I think our best bet for a half-decent chance at the Camp Nou is try to stifle Barca and make the field as small and dense as possible for them and try to take on the counter or at set pieces - kind of like Mourinho's Inter or Hiddink's Chelski dealt with them. We have to be physical and pressure them off the field as we stand no chance in trying to beat them at their game by trying to play possession football ... eve if I have my doubts if Seedorf, MvB and Ambro, at their age, are explosive enough to keep up with the task of closing Barca quickly enough.

Aquillani being featured in this game as anything more than a late sub at CAM would be pure suicide ... let's hope Allegri has smartened up after the Lazio game.
Ibra shouldn't play a whole game, although he would probably end up doing just that - beyond the 70th min or so he tends to get tired and too static, resulting in his frustration going thru the roof and him holding the ball for way too long, usually losing as a result. Best thing to do IMO would be to have a quick Pato up front and try hitting them on the counter whenever we get the chance while concentrating more on closing Barca down - that would be our only prayer for a decent outing on Tue, IMO.

[ACMILAN1983]

I'm genuinely concerned about Messi after last night. If Antonini plays against Messi, who loves cutting in then he'll be totally dominated (if he wouldn't be anyway), never mind that Barca will have players overlapping down the right. If Aquilani is ahead of him in midfield, he must absolutely be tactically disciplined to help control that area of Barca, otherwise we'll be destroyed.

[LebRN]

Given the Lazio game, it looks much better to play Aquilani as CAM & Prince as LCM, as the 1st was not good in covering at the back but good offensively while the 2nd was not good in creativity but can outmuscle anyone defensively....

Anyway, this is nothing new and even if Prince is not that good tactically, he will be better defensively than Aquilani.

I totally agree with fLame's formation for this match posted on the Lazio thread...
Nocerino-Van Bommel-Boateng
--------------Aquilani---------------

That would mean just 1 30+ player in midfield so there will be energy enough, the problem is that it will be experimenting against Barca....not the best timing but i can't see how an Ambr-Bommel-Seedorf can do better....

On the other hand, i do not agree that we should "attack attack attack" because it is obvious we r not strong enough at the back to defend against Lazio....let alone Barca....

Last year we had a great defense in the 1nd half of the season and that is what we should try to rediscover in 3 days or else we have no chance!!!

Nesta's performance was not great...true....but that is because he was exposed all the time which was the case last year before Van Bommel came and Allegri figured out the defensive setup....you simply cannot leave a 35 yr-old to defend against the pace of Cisse....set up the defense right and Nesta will be king Nesta as always.

The only problem problem that cannot be solved is Antonini....he is simply useless...wish we had another Abate on the left or Zambro can make it...Urby, Yepes...? anyone would be better than Anto...

Zlatan pre-season suggested much better things than what he showed yesterday....hope he is not tired already

[theaxeofpain]

Better use Zambrotta than Antonini tbh. Sure he doesn't have the pace, but still he's much better tactically, mentally and defensively than Antonini.

[Gio-mania]

I'm 99% sure we will lose this match but I'm curious how we'll lose it. Will we be run over completely or will we actually give Barça a hard time? Offensively I feel we can make something happen, especially if it's a good night for the boys. Cassano has shown some of his talents in the preseason and against Lazio so he will be an important asset. In general I have to say I liked the flow of our attacking maneuvers yesterday against Lazio, although Cassano and Ibra did start a bit far back. We seem more creative compared to last year even though the players are the same. Allegri's vision is being put into practice. Aquilani can be held partly responsible for this too as he added another dimension to our passing game.

Nonetheless I have to agree with some of the posts above me in that Aquilani didn't give the necessary defensive cover and this could be very, very costly considering who we are playing against. The defense in general will need as much help as possible from the midfield. Antonini is proving to be a liability. Nesta didn't have the best of games last night and he will need cover from the midfielders. Abate has grown as a player and has pace to recuperate while Thiago Silva is simply a class act.

This makes me think we'll be going for substance in the midfield. Ambrosini, Van Bommel and Nocerino are the suspects. Seedorf has that class but will it be enough? I also wonder if Allegri will rearrange the midfield for this game. We are used to being favourites in our games or at the very least equals (vs Inter) but never such underdogs as now. Maybe this suits Allegri, seeing as he has often been criticized for making us play like a "provinciale". Let's hope for the best and see what happens.