The Camp Nou will have a vibrant atmosphere tonight. For the second time this season, the historic stadium will witness a 'Catalan' mosaic night - 90,000 cards carrying the Blaugrana's traditional colors and the Catalan flag along with the central slogan of "Som Un Equip" (We are a team) are to be given out. The setting is the 2nd leg of Barcelona's Round of 16 clash versus AC Milan; a tie in which they find themselves 0-2 down on aggregate after the 1st leg.
AC Milan pulled off one of the biggest upsets ever when they stunned European powerhouse Barca not just beating them, but also doing such a fine job of preventing any goal scoring opportunities whatsoever for the Spanish side. The Italian Job at the San Siro was near perfect and Milan come into Catalonia country looking for a sequel to the act that is as good if not better.
A young and athletic Milan side clamped down on Barca as they cut down the spaces in which the Catalans usually operate and pressed them when in possession allowing them very little time on the ball. And in attack, employed a very direct approach using the pace of their forwards and Riccardo Montolivo's passing ability in midfield that exposed some of Barca's traditional failings, namely the lack of pace in the central defensive pairing of Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique. They hunted as a pack and were on the scene as soon as the ball found a Barca player harrowing and forcing a bad pass or a turnover to win the ball back. They also cut the supply line usually provided by the full-backs in Dani Alves and Jordi Alba. Their performance was so good that they allowed only 2 shots on goal all night with just a solitary effort on target. Not in every game does Lionel Messi have only one touch inside the penalty box and fail to muster a single shot on goal.
The key question tonight will be whether the Rossoneri can reproduce that performance from 2 weeks ago when they displayed exemplary levels of concentration and executed their strategy to the tee. It will be tough as Messi and co. are a force to reckon with at home. Barcelona have had a bad last month, February has traditionally been their Achilles heel, suffering back to back losses to arch rivals Real Madrid to go with the disappointment of the 1st leg.
FORM
Barcelona have lost 3 of their last 5 games which includes the 1st leg. They did however win their game against Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 over the weekend with Messi finding the net and scoring for the 36th consecutive La Liga game. Barcelona are well poised to reclaim the La Liga title with a 13 point lead over Real Madrid who overtook city rivals Atletico Madrid over the weekend after Atletico's loss.
Milan are unbeaten in their last 5, winning 4 and drawing 1, the draw coming in the Milan derby against Internazionale. Mario Balotelli has been firing away propelling them to league success as they've moved up to 3rd just 2 points adrift of 2nd placed Napoli. After a torrid start to the season, Massimiliano Allegri seems to have found the right mix and the team has a settled look about it and is churning out results week after week.
TEAM NEWS
Midfielder Xavi is back for Barca after missing a few games with a minor injury. The biggest name missing continues to be their manager Tito Vilanova, who is away in the United States undergoing treatment for cancer. The absence of Vilanova certainly seems to have had an impact on the side as they have struggled since his forced absence after having made a flying start to the season.
Milan striker Giampaolo Pazzini, who had an exemplary game at the Giuseppe Meazza, is out with a micro-fracture that he picked up during the game at the weekend. Allegri will not be able to call upon the services of Balotelli with the Italian being cup tied and that means a start for either former Barca man Bojan Krkic or teenager M'baye Niang alongside the talented Stephan El Shaarawy.
TACTICS & KEY BATTLES
Jordi Roura will not look to make too many changes in the line-up. Alexis Sanchez or Cristian Tello may get a start ahead of Cesc Fabregas in the attacking third to introduce some width into the game which they lacked in the first leg.
Pazzini's injury means a forced change up front for the Italian side. Niang, the 18 year old striker signed from French side Caen, was impressive in the first outing coming on as a sub and had a hand in the second goal. He would be slight favourite to start ahead of Bojan who is a similar type of player to El Shaarawy and hence may be used as a sub. Outside of that, there aren't likely to be too many changes with the likes of Antonio Nocerino and Mathieu Flamini offering good midfield back-up from the bench.
How well Milan defend will go some way in determining the outcome on the night. The Camp Nou will be a cauldron with a fervent atmosphere reverberating around the stadium and for some of Milan's youngsters it would be first time experience. If they can keep the game goalless for a good portion of the game, they will have succeeded in taking the crowd out of the game.
AC Milan have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 8 away games in the Champions League. That should be of some encouragement to the Catalans as they set about their task of overturning this deficit. However, Milan too would take heart from the fact that Barcelona too have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 6 knockout stage games at home, winning 4 and drawing 2.
Against Deportivo at the weekend, Barca interjected their usual brand of possession football with long balls and more direct play, clearly something that they have been working on and designed at unlocking a Milan defence that they couldn't find an unlock code too. We will see more of the same from Milan as they will sit back and defend in numbers looking to catch the Barca defence out on the counter. The hosts need to ensure that they don't play too high a line and their full-backs must take cognizance of where the centre-backs are positioned as they hurtle forward.
PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Andres Iniesta - No matter the numerous Ballon'd Or awards and the constant claim of the World's greatest, it is Iniesta and not Messi who is the key cog for Barca and Spain when it comes to games of this magnitude. He has time and again popped up with match winning performances on the grandest stage, just ask Chelsea. Even in the first leg, he looked the only player in a Barca shirt that looked capable of making something happen.
Stephan El Shaarawy - The electric forward was a constant threat to Barca in the first leg and posed all sorts of problems with his pace and direct running at the defenders. 'The Little Pharaoh had a few opportunities in the first half that he may have liked to make better use of. He will surely get some more as Barcelona go looking for goals and how he makes use of them might well decide if his side progress to the next round.
Barcelona are no doubt faced with an uphill task as they look to revive their quest for Champions League glory. Standing in the way will be a young and physically fit Milan side that left them short of breath and short of ideas at the end of the 1st leg. It promises to be an exciting contest and a keen tactical battle that will see the clash of two contrasting styles in the 'Tiki-taka' against the 'Catenaccio'. Barca have been the dominant team in Europe the last half a decade and will need to call upon all their experience to ensure there is no Italian delight at the final whistle.
LIKELY XI's
Barcelona: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Alba, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Alexis, Pedro, Messi
AC Milan: Abbiati, Abate, Zapata, Mexes, Constant, Ambrosini, Muntari, Montolivo, Boateng, El Shaarawy, Niang
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