AC Milan 2 - 0 PALERMO

This was not a pretty game. But then again this was just  a recovery game for Milan. The Rosseneri just needed a win and three points after their clash with Barca midweek which left them heartbroken & humiliated.

Milan led the early attacking and in the first ten minutes Balotelli was pushed over inside the box and then converted a great penalty.  This put Milan up on the perfect cushion. Palermo without a win in their past 14 matches then took the fight to the Rosseneri . El Shaarawy later on again found himself connected through Prince Boateng pass , unmarked in the box but only to have his shot blocked on it’s way to goal. Milan then started to take possession but could find little to with it and lacked the final stroke.

The Rosanero came straight at Milan after the break with a high pressing break forcing Milan to make silly mistakes.  However  Niang  drilled the ball into a low cross which hit  a defender whom passed the ball back to a seemingly under pressure keeper who himself could only manage to parry the ball onto and oncoming Super Mario whom humped it in from inside the six-yard box. Palermo then demoralised sat back and Milan rode out the victory.

Final Thoughts
*El Shaarawy desperately needs a rest , his playing far too much for his first proper season and looks the part
*Flamini is a riot on the field and Traore should be in the TV show "Lost".
*The attack is isolated from a midfield where only one player links up to them regularly , which is why I stressed in “http://acmilan09.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/aftermath-of-barca-elimination-and-what.html” that we need another playmaking midfielder desperately.
*Prince needs to lift for the smaller games as well, looks like at the moment he only turns up for the all important big games

Milan’s Best
3.Super Mario: Made himself a big target and was always trying to create something in the box and was the spark plug for Milan’s performance tonight.
2.Montolivo: The only man in the red & black jersey who consistently found his target. Spent most of the match cleaning up after his fellow midfielders mistakes.
1.De Sciglio: Ran up & down the flank all game and may have not have produced as many crosses as he used to but covered the CBs brilliantly.

Aftermath of Barca Elimination and What Milan Must Do Now

Ouch, that hurt. The loss to Barca was as harsh as they come. I really came into this match expecting us to be able to pull off a miracle and knock them out ! I sat on my lounge so excited for this epic event, I had gotten less than 3 hours sleep for this. Within the first ten seconds Milan had conceded the ball to a throw in. I just knew right then, we weren't going to have a fun time. Barca immediately had us pressed back in defence fighting for our lives and within 5 minutes had played ping pong pass to Messi who snapped in an opening goal. OUCH! I knew this was going to be ugly then. I watched as Milan nervous and scared were pushed further back and every time they had the ball were swarmed by Barca players. But enough about how much Barca punished us.

I am hoping for from this outcome the young Milan players are hungry & determined. Both Niang & El Shaarawy missed crucial one on one shots that could have easily turned the tide our way when the game was in it’s youth. Now hopefully looking back on those mistakes, they can see how close they came to greatness and how important they are to the team.  Super Mario must have been spewing having to miss out on this tie,  this is the kind of big match he would have loved and loss of a proper CF was evident. De Sciglio  will only come out harder having seen himself be out casted to the bench in such an important tie. Robinho however looked like a new man and will hopefully come out charging against future Serie A opposition like that.

Evidently Milan can no longer field more defensive midfielders than offensive . They are the only big club in the world who are happy to field Muntari,Traore& Flamini all together in a midfield trio which clogs themselves up and creates nothing for the strikers. Montolivo is a superb passer but he needs support. To make matters worse that really only Muntari shows any attacking capacities at all whilst Flamini & Traore are both only really in the rotation until Nigel De Jong comes back. Nigel was such a beast earlier in the season and is the proper defensive midfielder we need.  After this season however, along with the new kids coming along, I would love to see us purchase a quality offensive player maker  to help relieve the pressure off Montolivo.

Milan can’t falter now, they have been undefeated for 2013 in Serie A and are only three points above the Viola despite their recent dominance. Worse  part is, the Rosseneri have perhaps one of the most hardest fixtures coming up towards the end of the season with April having 3 of the top 6 in direct clashes.  Milan can’t afford to falter now.  Losing third spot would be detrimental for the club right now and with a proud European history such as theirs this would be far beyond unacceptable.

Barca 4 - 0 AC Milan

This game hurt us , it hurt us very badly. I sat on my lounge so excited for this epic event, I had gotten less than 3 hours sleep for this. Within the first ten seconds Milan had conceded the ball to a throw in. I just knew right then, we weren't going to have a fun time. Barca immediately had us pressed back in defense fighting for our lives and within 5 minutes had played ping pong pass to Messi who snapped in an opening goal. OUCH! I knew this was going to be ugly then. I watched as Milan nervous and scared were pushed further back and every time they had the ball were swarmed by Barca players. Cruelly after El Shaarawy came so close for a goal on the counter, Messi returned another against Milan.

The second half was just more of the same pain. Milan were stuck in their own half, taking a beating and were lucky to even string together a few passes. Villa opened the half through running onto a superb ball by Xavi and thrusting the ball into the back of the net. Milan looked truly defeated then. The rest of the half was more of the same of the Barca domination, though Milan did look much more lively when Robinho came onto the field.

Final Thoughts
*Milan put far to much pressure on their defence and forwards. Only one play maker in the midfield currently and that is Montolivo
*Our defense did not trust the midfield to keep the ball and were passing directly to the forwards
* Milan fans have to be patient, there were so many inexperienced players yet we almost defeated the greatest club side ever.
* Misses from Niang & El Shaarawy can only make those two players more hungry

Milan's Best
*This was really hard as I felt very few players really stood out
3.Montolivo : Was the ONLY effective midfield player who tried to CREATE anything
2.Mexes : A very controversial choice I know, but from what I saw he was under immense pressure all game and seemed to be making the most tackle,laying the most pressure and was helping play the ball out.
1.Abbiati: Two quality saves and two goals he could do nothing about. He was as good as he was ever going to be tonight.

Barca Are Upon Us

The match is coming upon us.
Darkness rises around the Nou Camp.
The Rosseneri will prepare for battle against perhaps the most legendary team of our time.
Despite Barca’s current form , after seeing them dispose of Deportivo , I can tell all fellow Milan fan’s one thing coming to us, Barca are angry.

They have been ridiculed for their one floundering form in well over the past few years where they have been the most complete team to my mind to be able to be called faultless.  Barca in a matter of a few weeks have become the laughing stock of Europe & online banter (such as FB group Soccer Memes) depicts them as being a shadow of their former selves.

However, I am not as naïve to think this Barca are going to go down quietly.  To even say that is beyond reasonable! This team has only lost two matches in their league this season! Their other losses have come from  a Cup they don’t care for and a huge upset against Milan. One which they highly underestimated. Sure Barca have had a bad month , but at the end of the day , this was in a meaningless Cup match for them! They are thumping Primera Division on 71 points and have only lost two games.
Barcelona have some of the greatest players of our age and some of the best advantages going into this match.
Messi , a player who will go down in history as being one of the all time greats, he has become one of the greatest goal scorers of all time and can determine matches at a moment of his choosing.
Xavi’s precision passing can split the opposition apart and cause their defence to crumble.
Inestia’s never say die attitude and ability to be in the right area.
Though I would say their most important advantage going into this match is the home ground advantage, but not of the pitch, but what’s on it, not of their players, they are merely mortals and we have already got the best of them once before, but of the man officiating the game. The REF It is more than known that Barca are actually UEFALONA and there has been a few incident’s where the referee has blatantly given them the match. I expect complete and utter chaos this match, Barcelona players dropping/diving like flies/sack of potatoes when our players come into 1m distance of them, at least one red card and maybe a penalty or two.

This match is going to be full of drama, Barca have a point to prove and their player’s know it. Their title as the best team in the world is under threat, sure they have let other teams score a few cheap wins in recent memory but to be knocked out by an under par Milan side would be disastrous .
As stated before their player’s are set to prove a point and have come in the media to do this.
Xavi: “Milan were lucky to win 2-0. They never attacked. A fair result would have been 0-0.”
Alves: "Iniesta puts his hand in the fire for Barça to qualify for next CL round? I won't do that, I put my whole body in the fire (smiles)"

Yet interestingly , our boys, have been rather quiet. I could almost say confidently quiet. We know we are only mortals, not these god like players Barca have to represent them. Though we also know along with our weaknesses they have theirs.

This is how I'm going to feel about the match, imagine Milan standing in their half. Defending for their lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HMrYEjPMGY
Every tackle, every block , every recovered ball , I shall cheer Milan on.
I will yell at the TV ,every breath which will spur Milan onto victory.

If we do this, and knock Barca out , we prove to the world, that AC Milan are back on the rise. And finally when the Nou Camp are in ashes and Barcelona are knocked out of the Champions League, they have Milan’s permission to die.