Mediocre performance: we are now in a very tough spot in Camp Nou as a (score) draw won't be enough. Dunno what we could've done differently tonight. Maybe we were a little too cautious: could've attacked more and faster. No one was really good today. IMO we were the better side today, but not too clearly as Milan played pretty well and they def are dangerous. Oh well, never was gonna be easy.
that was a horrible 2nd half display from both teams (especially barca) and i can't believe Keita played the whole 90mins lol
If Iniesta doesn't play on his normal position on Camp Nou, I see the same performance all over again.
Too clumsy and lost too many balls.. didnt get the substitutions at all, we should kept Iniesta on and Pedro on some earlier. Credit to Milan though, they kept us out well..
Is Cesc injured or why is he not playing a part (in the actual match or in our speculations who should play)?
Give Milan credit, they didn't want to concede at home. At least Puyol didn't pick up a yellow and can play the 2nd leg. I think a win at home is very doable of course and this tie was never going to be won in the first leg anyway. There's just a slim margin for error at home now. I think our home pitch and crowd will make a huge difference.
Well a bit of a tough task now with having to win at home but a team of barcas quality with a better field and home support they should get the job done. In the 2nd leg I would like to see the same lineup but Keita out and Pedro in to have two natural wide players with pace and skill to run at their back line and stretch play to provide penetration. Then drop iniesta back to the midfield where he can dictate the game alongside Xavi. Keita battled well and may have been the right choice in an away game on a sloppy pitch but at home we should be able to boss the game.
the fuked up thing was seeing milan players congratulating each other after the match is over on the draw AT HOME . i mean seriously ....
I don't blame them that's a good result for them if they can find a way to score a goal in the 2nd leg they are in a strong position forcing us to score twice.
This is exactly why I was unhappy a couple of weeks ago when we drew Milan. I knew we would struggle against them because they play a very physical style with 8 guys playing defense. Too many people were saying that Barca would win because of Milans injuries. I didn't buy it because even though they didn't have Silva they are a veteran laden team who played team defense tonight and gave it their all. The pitch was their best weapon. Too many players slipping and sliding plus the pitch always seemed to screw up the shots and the players never caught the ball clean. I thought Keita was good in the 1st half but he got worse and worse. Don't understand not playing Iniesta in his natural position at all. The good news is they didn't score but now we probably have to score 2 at home just in case. The team has to be sharper in the next game and start taking some chances instead of passing 20 times and just losing the ball or having the 4 Milan defenders come up and take it. Puyol was my MOTM. The guy was a beast all game and didn't pick up a yellow on top of that. Pique was pretty good too.
Sometimes our play was effective. In the 1st half, we seemed to lull them with passes then suddenly went for the jugular with some quick one-twos through the middle. All that was missing was the finish on a few occasions, and of course one ended with Abbiati fouling Alexis. We seemed to lose interest in the 2nd half until Tello came on. (Thank goodness no RB he faces seems to have read his scouting report so far! That stepover is still killer.) Masch too. Very feisty and won a lot of difficult balls. I especially like the moment where he wrapped over Ibra's leg like a boa constrictor. (Any pics of that? ) I don't doubt we can score twice at home vs. Milan. But I'll be especially nervous if/when we score the 1-0 in the 2nd leg. Even at 2-0 it will be tense, given our generosity in those situations this season. I'd almost prefer to be down 0-1 early on and mount a comeback. And I hope we come through the weekend clash vs. Athletic unscathed.
Ref was a bit of a homer, bottled some big calls. I also saw that Ambrosini has the potential to be Pepe's back-up!
Geez that field was terrible. What was up with it ? Has it been raining for 30 days straight in Milan ? Commentators mentioned Arsenal complained about it too. Come to think of it they did look sluggish when they played. Not sure there is much else to say. The field screwed up the game for both teams but more so us because of our style and possession. Now we can't even think about conceding at home or else we need 2. And new rule: in the first 5-10 minutes ... FFS don't pass the ball in the back !!
They've had problems with that pitch for a while. Not only this season. It worked against us so much more than for Milan. Anyway, game against Athletic Bilbao coming up this weekend and it will be interesting to see how Pep will approach that game. I expect that some players will sit out that one. Probably Cuenca or Tello will get the chance to start, Thiago and/or Cesc should also be in the lineup. Will Adriano be back for the 2nd leg against Milan? If not then Puyol might need a rest against Bilbao.