By David Lee
Wheatley
European heavyweights clash at San Siro
With 11 European Cup victories between them,
AC Milan and FC Barcelona represent the cream of European club football and
tonight they meet in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the San Siro.
Barcelona will go into the game as firm
favourites with their strong form in La Liga complimenting a pretty good
Champions League campaign thus far, only blighted by an away loss to Glasgow
Celtic in the group stages.
AC Milan are off the pace in Serie A in third
place and the Rossoneri lost a number of experienced campaigners last summer in
the shape of Gattuso, Seedorf and Nesta; they were quickly followed out of the
door by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thaigo Silva to big-spending Paris
Saint-Germain. The backbone of the team has gone, leaving a squad largely in
transition and facing an uphill task to reach the next phase of Europe’s
premier competition.
Massimiliano Allegri, coach of the Milanese
giants, has announced his back four will be Abate, Zapata, Mexes and Constant.
Montolivo will likely feature in midfield and Allegri hopes to have forward El
Shaarawy available after injury. The biggest miss to the home side will be that
of Mario Balotelli, who has started like a train by scoring 4 goals in 3
appearances after signing from Manchester City in January. Unfortunately for
Milan, he is cup-tied after featuring for City earlier in the competition.
The phenomenal Lionel Messi is in his usual
spectacular form (48 goals to date in all competitions this season) and will
take some stopping as he continues to break record after record at Barcelona.
The thought of facing him must send shivers down the spines of the chosen four
at the back for Milan. French centre-back Philippe Mexes must take on the
mantle of leader in defence and will be required to use all of his experience
to guide his team-mates through one of the toughest tests they will ever face.
The
Italians are the underdogs, but as a club they have the know-how and pedigree
to win the competition and that will give their players confidence. However,
they face a side from Catalonia brimming with talent and performing at the peak
of their powers. It will take a massive Milan effort and a below-par performance
from Barcelona for the Rossoneri to progress to the quarter-finals.Follow me on Twitter @davewh1980
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