Mario Balotelli's move to the Rossoneri from Manchester City in the January transfer window grabbed all the headlines. It's been a happy return for Super Mario so far having scored 4 goals in his 3 appearances for the Rossoneri. However, having played for City, he's cup tied and as a result ineligible to help his side out against Barcelona.
Which brings us to a player, who even before Balotelli arrived has been steering the Milan ship. Stephan El Shaarawy, the 20 year old Italy forward, has been prolific scoring as well as creating chances. He's scored 18 goals already, 3 of them during the Group phase of the Champions League. Together with Giampaolo Pazzini, who has 10 league goals, the duo have been the main scoring threats for Milan.
'Il Faraone' (the Pharoah), as he's known owing to his Egyptian roots, was signed from Genoa in June 2011 after he impressed on his loan spell at Padova. His impressive showing earned him the Serie B Player of the year title in the 2010-11 season. Since his arrival at the Giuseppe Meazza, he has gone some way towards filling the hole left by Zlatan Ibrahimovic's move to big money PSG.
El Shaarawy possesses exceptional dribbling ability and technical skill. He is also a very good passer of the ball and has often helped create space for his other team-mates. He has been compared to the likes of 4 time Ballon'd 'Or winner Lionel Messi and Brazilian wonder-kid Neymar. El Shaarawy looks up to former Milan star Kaka as his role model.
Tonight, he will get a chance to showcase his skills on the biggest stage against arguably the best team in club football. The lights will be squarely on him and it is a chance for the Little Pharoah to elevate his status across the world a little higher.
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