The whole footballing world was in shock after last Wednesday with Barca losing to Milan at the San Siro. It was not that Barca were unbeatable and everyone expected Milan to play the same way as they did with the blueprint of last year's Stamford Bridge and Celtic Park this term. In the end they are a team of humans and even though it is a shock when they lose a game considering the level at which they play, this game was entirely different from the other two. The manner in which they lost the game was disappointing. Last year when they lost to Chelsea in that away match they had no less than 20 shots on target. Even against Celtic they had plenty of opportunities to score.
If you look at the statistics from the Milan match you can see that they only had three shots on target which was shocking. They didn't do well keeping the possession either. There were far too many instances when they gave the ball away and was struggling to stick with it for a long time as they normally do. When they had the ball they failed to move the ball quickly. You can see that Milan outplayed them with the amount of balls won back. Normally you see this side creating more than a handful of chances but this time they just struggled to breakdown the Milan defense.
Something was missing from the side on the night. The players might have been tired or has teams find a way to beat this Barcelona side. Some have even started asking whether this is the end of and era. Not many teams have find a way to beat them. I wont say that Chelsea beat them rather I would say that Barca wasted all the chances to score. Even in the second leg Barca were superior. The next question "Is it the end of an era?." Definitely not. You look at the ages of those players and apart from Puyol and maybe Xavi all others could go on for many years to come.
My view is that they missed Tito Vilanova very much during the match. I can recall a match earlier in the season when things were not going right Vilanova changed the formation and then suddenly Barca took control of the match which they eventually won. When you encounter opposition such as this you need to make some tactical changes during the match when things are not going your way. You can have your manager speaking to you before the match but sometimes his presence on the field makes that difference. Another critic is that they don't have a plan B. But I think the form of Alexis is hurting them. He is one player who can run at the defence and dribble past them with ease which we are not seeing much at the moment from Alexis. He must get his confidence back and repay the faith his manager is showing in him. Also we normally see Cesc getting in runs into the box which was also missing on that night.
We can expect nothing different in the second leg from Milan and they can afford to easily sit back and defend and then counter attack. Barcelona will once again have all the possession and the width of the pitch and their quick passing will be beneficial and crucial. Two goals down in the first leg is a mountain to climb. As Xavi said the other day this team is yet to have an incredible comeback win. They normally don't put themselves in such situations but here is a chance for them to show. It will be very hard for them to overturn that scoreline in their favor in the second leg. But you can never write off this Barcelona side, Can you?.
Keep Smiling... :)
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