Football
Accumulators

The seemingly never-ending break after the group stage has finally come  to an end for AC Milan and FC Barcelona, as the two behemoth’s of European football go head to head on Wednesday night in the first leg of the knockout stages of Champions League at San Siro.

It is a tie which will bring back bitter-sweet memories for the Blaugrana who will be fully aware that despite not having super star names like yesteryear, this Milan side will fight fiercely for the Champions League trophy, a competition they have won seven times in the clubs history, and even more so in this game before the home fans. Milan will be keen to get a result in this game if they are to have any chance of sealing the qualification in the return leg at Camp Nou in March.

Both sides are going into the match on the back of a good season so far. Barça are running away with the Spanish league while AC Milan are on top form in Serie A, and have yet to lose in 2013 following five wins and two draws. Curiously, all four games that they have played at home since Christmas have ended 2-1.

Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizaretta echoed this sentiment in the pre-match buildup where he admitted that the ticket to the quarters will be expensive and that the club have to earn their place: “They (Milan) know how to compete, whether they have famous players or not,” said Zubizaretta. Furthermore, milanistas will be happy to have recovered the fiery-eyed ‘Il Faraone’ Stephan El Shaarawy, especially since they cannot count on winter signing Mario Balotelli, who played in the Champions League with Manchester City and is thus ineligible to play with Milan this season.

Milan coach Massimmo Allegre admitted that his side have to do something “really big” to eliminate the Catalan’s over two legs, but has refused to cast his young side as underdogs. Allegri believes Milan  have a case of going to the quarter finals if they can stay attentive at all times, and brave when contending for possession against Barcelona’s midfield technicians.

For the Blaugrana, legendary midfielder Xavi Hernandez returns to the squad after a week on the sidelines, allowing Andres Iniesta to move wide left as former Arsenal man Cesc Fabregas is likely to join Xavi and Busquets in the centre. Barca will look to declare their intent from the set go as they go in search of a win at the San Siro, but without losing focus on their famous touch and control philosophy.

The onus of creative duties for Milan falls on the lone shoulders of Ricardo Montolivo who may find it difficult to compete with the wealth of creative force in the Barcelona armor. Montolivo will be assisted by veterans Ambrosino and Muntari, who will assume more conservative roles in midfield. On the flanks, Milan are likely to field Boateng, who has had a mixed season so far in terms of form, on the right and El Shaarawy, who took Europe by storm following his blitzkrieg start to the season, on the left flank. The two wide men will have to take maximum advantage of Barca’s unusually, sometimes even excessively attack minded fullback’s Dani Alves and Jordi Alba, if the Rossoneri are to come out of this tie with flying colors.

Last season the Rossoneri and the Blaugrana went head to head four times in Europe, twice in the group stage, which ended in a draw (2-2) and a win (2-3) for the Catalans, and twice again in the knockout rounds which Barcelona went through 3-1 on aggregate thanks to a brace from Messi and a beautiful goal from Iniesta.

As if the good memories that the San Siro brings to the Blaugrana players was not enough, they will be reunited with former teammate Bojan Krkic who is on loan from Barcelona at AC Milan. Bojan is unlikely to start on Wednesday, but could play an important role off the bench provided Allegri decides to bring him on at some point.

Interesting Facts:

• It was at the San Siro that Barcelona’s stand-in coach Jordi Roura’s career came to an abrupt end as he injured his knee during a random collision with former Barca coach Frank Rijkaard in 1989. That happened to be Roura’s final game as a Barcelona player. 

• All three times that these sides have previously met over two legs in the European Cup it has been Barcelona that have gone though. They first crossed paths way back in 1959/60 (5-1 and 0-2), and in the UCL era they met in the semis of 2005/06 (0-1 and 0-0) and the quarters last year (0-0 and 3-1).

• AC Milan, however, beat FCB in the Supercup of 1989 (1-1 and 0-1) and in the Athens final of 1994 (0-4). They have also played four times in the group stages 2000/01 and 2004/05 with one Barça win, two for the Italians and one draw.

• It’s been nine years since FC Barcelona lost in an official meeting with AC Milan. That was on October 20, 2004 (1-0 in Milan).

• AC Milan has ‘shared’ more players with FC Barcelona than any other club. No fewer than 15 players have moved from the San Siro to the Camp Nou or vice-versa. One of these is Bojan Krkic, who is currently at AC Milan.

Possible Lineups:

AC Milan: Abbiati, Abate, Mexès,  Zapata, Constant, Muntari, Ambrosini, Montolivo, Boateng, El Shaarawy, Pazzini.

FC Barcelona: Valdés, Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc, Pedro, Messi

Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland)

Venue: San Siro

Match Odds:

Barcelona win: 8/15 Paddy Power & Betfred

AC Milan win: 13/2 bet365

Draw: 16/5 Betfred

Suggested Bets:

BTTS: 4/5 Betfred

El Sharaawy first goalscorer and match ends in a draw: 25/1 bet365

Lionel Messi first goalscorer: 11/5 Paddy Power