12 MARCH 2012
CAMP NOU: BARCELONA. SPAIN.
BARCELONA VS A.C MILAN
1945 GMT
We’ve played Barcelona so many times over the past two seasons it seems we are both quite sick of each other around this point. What’s changed though, and what has the entire Catalonia nauseous, is the fact that for the first time in these meetings, we quite literally have their balls in our hands and we just need apply a little pressure to castrate this bunch of spoilt brats.
In our previous 5 encounters we have tried everything, we’ve been offensive and defensive, we played so deep at Camp Nou in that 2-2 draw we made a mockery of the Chelsea back the bus method, we stood toe-to-toe and gave as good as we got in the return leg which we lost 3-2. More desperate, last ditch defending secured us a 0-0 draw in the quarter final first leg, whilst a unique penalty set them on their way to a 3-1 return leg win. What we see is we’ve tried everything, we’ve given it our all with a team including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, and Clarence Seedorf, and we’d fallen short on all occasions. You couldn’t blame the world then for writing off this vastly inferior side, and to say we were given a dog’s chance in the first leg would be the first time this old cliché qualifies as a euphemism.
Yet the entire world was treated to a footballing classic in one of those WTF moments you remember long afterwards: and consequently we have put ourselves in a fantastic position going into this second leg. As I mentioned after the game, it was Allegri’s finest moment as a manager and the important thing is that we follow it up with a worthy performance, one that in subsequent years we can look back on with pride as a worthy sequel to the beautiful Mona Lisa he painted on 20th February at the San Siro.
Since that game we’ve continued building momentum, beating Lazio convincingly whilst winning not so convincingly against Genoa on Friday. Both games showed qualities we so missed during that early season slump, the ruthlessness of a shark to finish off wounded prey, and the doggedness to win a game in which we were far from our best. Both are qualities exhibited by the best teams, and we can lay claim to being in such exalted company now. The broken, crippled bunch from August to November is gone and in their place we have a finely tuned machine capable of greatness.
What accounts for that turnaround, you ask? A combination of factors which have been beaten to death by people who wax lyrical at a level I can’t claim to yet. We are just seeing the fruits of it and we absolutely love it. It also means we have more of a chance than people envisaged three weeks ago and we absolutely have no excuse to not get the job done.
This is because coupled with the above; the Barcelona juggernaut is not in its usual shape, steamrolling offenders out of its path effortlessly is now kind of an issue. Whilst they haven’t exactly lost their aura, they are down and look more mortal than they ever have within the past five seasons. A 2-0 win over Deportivo seem to have their spirits back up, and confidence in their camp is sky high if certain comments they’ve made are taken into account; but it cannot gloss over the fact that they have lost three of their last five games; that they’ve conceded in 13 straight games bar against La Liga’s basement club, and that they look out of sorts whe attacking defensively smart sides. It doesn’t also change the fact that they are going to attack us like they have never done before, and mentally and physically this is going to be one hell of a game for our boys.
Unlike Barcelona, Allegri did not have the luxury to rest some players (3rd place is still extremely important to achieve), and whilst we got the win we lost Giampaolo Pazzini. It’s quite worrying considering the roll he’s been on in recent times, and also the fact a target man is needed against Barcelona. Options include M’Baye Niang, or Kevin Prince Boateng. Bojan Krkic has rarely seen game time, and it’s difficult to see Allegri bringing him in for such a lofty game, though his Barcelona past might see him fired up on more levels than one.
The level of anticipation is killing me, as I’m sure for all other Milan fans, and the oft rolled line of a date with destiny never held truer. The same can be said for our Catalan opponents, whose season is at risk of being branded a failure with a loss tomorrow. This spectacular turnaround could use this victory, and the rush of beating the best team in the world could carry us on a wave which might end with this season containing achievements you would have been institutionalized for mentioning back in August.
History often remembers only the winners, and as amazing as that first leg victory was, and the subsequent spiral it’s sent Barcelona into and the concurring high for Milan, it would all count for naught if we fail to follow it up with qualification. For Allegri the danger is that his greatest tactical achievement could get lost in the shuffle if we lose, and this great club cannot stand the humiliation of surrendering such a commanding lead. The teams, the manager, us the fans, we all have seen the Promised Land, and after a shambles of the season’s beginning we need this qualification. Nothing spectacular is needed in Catalonia, just ride the storm and come back heroes; then a season which should have been one of transition might just turn into something special.
FORZA MILAN
ENJOY THIS BANNER COURTESY OF THE CRAZY MILANISTI OVER AT THE SB NATION
Nii Smiley Byte
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