Barcelona vs. AC Milan, 2013 UEFA Champions League: Blaugrana thrash Rossoneri to progress

It may have looked similar in terms of how Allegri deployed his players on Tuesday night but there were two key differences.

The second difference, and in my eyes, the more important difference was Milan’s overly aggressive play.

Barcelona have advanced to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, pulling out a difficult comeback. They went down two goals to AC Milan in the first leg at the San Siro, but recovered brilliantly to win 4-0 at the Camp Nou, progressing with a 4-2 aggregate victory.

Just one minute later, Barcelona scored their second goal of the night and their equalizer in the tie. A bad giveaway in the center of midfield caught the Milan midfield out of position and allowed Iniesta to find Messi on the edge of the box, in a similar position from which he scored his first goal. Instead of going to the far post, like he did on his first goal, he placed a perfect shot to the near post that Abbiati never appeared to have a chance to stop, locking up the tie at 2-2 on aggregate heading into halftime.

Barcelona have definitely backed off just a bit despite the fact another goal would be decisive for them. They’re still attacking but they also know they just need to be smart and not take quite as many risk with the aggregate lead now in their favor. With only 15 minutes left to play at the Camp Nou, there’s little doubt their defense is going to be tested a least a couple more times by Milan.

It’s been a nightmarish first half for AC MIlan as they’ve wasted several chances to grab an away goal and conceded two goals to Lionel Messi. Barcelona are up 2-0 which has the match even at 2-2 on aggregate.

Two mintues later Abbiati made a wonderful save on an Andres Inieta blast from outside the area. Abbiati did an excellent jon parrying the shot away but left a rebound that was pounced on by Messi. Luckily for Milan, his header went wide and into the side netting.

To be fair the goal was coming but it’s still a brutal morale blow for Milan who were only five minutes from getting to halftime still holding the aggregate lead. Instead, they are looking like a punch-drunk fighter just waiting for the final blow or their corner to throw in the towel.

It really looks like they’ll need a massive second half effort to prevent Barcelona from finishing the comeback.

Pedro was at the center of another penalty shout in the 21st minute after he danced his way into the Milan area before being tackled off the ball. Again the Camp Nou crowd when bonkers but the referee was not swayed. Were another official in charge of this match, Milan’s thin advantage could have already completely evaporated.

The potential upside is that Puyol didn’t play well at all against Milan in the first leg so perhaps Mascherano will be able to better handle the speedy attack that Milan will undoubtedly thrown at the Barca defense.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

The midfielder has been out the last couple games with a hamstring injury, but had been training with the first team since Friday. Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura declined to confirm Xavi’s availability yesterday, likely in an attempt to keep Milan on their toes.

Xavi played in the first leg against AC Milan, basically under the exact same circumstances as he returned from a hamstring injury to play in that match as well. Xavi was largely ineffective but to be fair, so was the entire roster.

In doubt: Xavi Hernandez (hamstring).

Out: Nigel de Jong (Achilles), Giampaulo Pazzini (fibula), Mario Balotelli (cup-tied; crazy). In doubt: Philippe Mexès (thigh), Luca Antonini (knee)

It’s hard to imagine that Barcelona will be as poor as they were a few weeks ago in Italy. While Milan deserves a ton of credit for the Blaugrana’s struggles, they did plenty of damage to themselves as well. Ultimately this match and the overall tie will probably come down to how well Barca adjusts to what Milan will be trying to do to them. Barcelona must deal with Milan’s plan effectively, whether that’s sitting way back or if they play their high pressure, highly organized style we saw in the first leg.

Barcelona knows that Milan will be looking to counter and get an early away goal and basically end the tie. It’s their job to prevent it and get on the scoreboard as quick as they can to put pressure on Milan. The bonus for the Italian side is that their 2-0 lead allows them a little room for error, though they still should strive for perfection.