Milan vs. Barcelona: Fluke?

This had 3-0 Barcelona written all over it.  Barça are in-form, uninjured (with the exception of David Villa who's been in and out all season), they have La Liga all but wrapped up, and are by far the favorites for the Champions league this season. Not to mention their side boasts more “world class” players than then any team in the world, save Real Madrid arguably. Milan are without their only two really world renown players in Balotelli and de Jong (Robinho doesn't count), they haven’t exactly sparkled in Serie A this season, and seem to be in a rebuilding phase both on and off the pitch.

So how did Milan beat the best team in the world when they were clear underdogs? First and foremost, luck.  They got a lucky no-call that led to a goal and loose balls seemed to go their way. But that wasn’t everything. Milan applied high pressure all night, and for once Barcelona couldn’t handle it. When Barça settled down, which they always do as they’re not a run and gun style team, their back four were pressured which they can usually handle.  Their problems seemed to occur when they got to the midfield, usually their strong suit. But Milan gave them no space. Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, even Messi when he dropped back couldn’t even turn without 1 or 2 fleet footed Italians covering them.  And the Italians did what Italians do, they won the tackles. One shot on goal tells you how bad of a night Barça had, you could even say the score could have been 3 or 4 – 0 if El Shaarawy hadn’t made a number of rookie-style mistakes. It’s like Barcelona didn’t know what to do if someone actually treated them like equals.

Stephan El Shaarawy, while performing well in
Serie A this year, did in fact resemble
Titus Bramble against Barcelona.

I don’t consider this Milan squad to be particularly dangerous besides Kevin Prince Boateng being leagues better than I thought he was when I first saw him at Portsmouth.  But there is something to be said for sleeping giants and “Big” clubs that aren’t “Big” at the time.  Liverpool are pretty terrible right now but no one would really be that surprised if they had pulled it out and won the UEFA cup this year, and I guess the same goes for Milan.  They certainly aren’t favorites for the Champions League but you can’t deny history, and you can’t forget how they finished in 2007 when they won it last (4th in the league).

As for beating Barcelona, Inter Milan did it in 2010. They won at the San Siro and held Barcelona at the Nou Camp in a defensive display that few could forget if not for Jose Mourinho’s celebration after the game then perhaps for Sergio Busquets' acting skills. Chelsea did it last year by barely squeaking by after John Terry got a red card for a bizarre off-the-ball incident. In short, it is possible and if anyone’s going to do it it’s Milan.

Shame.

So was this a fluke? Should Allegri suddenly be considered a tactical genius? Has tiki-taka been found out? At the end of the day no one would really be surprised if Barcelona scored 3 or 4 on the return leg. But even though Milan only had 34% of the possession and everyone knows that Barcelona is the better team, something in the Milanese men made Barcelona look like boys.  Maybe it was Philip Mexès jumping well over Pedro to win a defensive header late in the game, or the way that Barcelona seemed to always have a player grabbing their head or ankle in agony that made them seem sort of silly. Or maybe it was just blind luck and good defending that won the game, but every good team and dynasty comes to an end, and 3-4 years seems to be the limit. If this is goodbye Miss Tiki-Taka, know that you are one of the best.

Leave it to the Italians to stifle an attacking side.