Milan 2-3 Barcelona: Xavi gets the winner
The first half formations
An interesting battle between formations and an excellent match ended with a narrow Barcelona win.
Max Allegri went for his usual system, Kevin-Prince Boateng shuttling from midfield to link up with the front two, with Robinho starting rather than Pato. Alberto Aquilani started on the right of midfield.
Pep Guardiola was without a host of players including both Dani Alves and Adriano, and went for his system featuring a back three, and a diamond in midfield.
Barcelona had more of the ball (of course) and created more goalscoring opportunities, but were never completely in control of the game.
Barca formation
The Barcelona formation was a variation of the 3-4-3 diamond / 3-3-1-3 system that Guardiola has been using at times this season. It was interesting that he went with Javier Mascherano in the centre of the back three, rather than Carles Puyol, even up against the aerial threat of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Further forward, there was a lot of fluidity from Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara – at the start of the game it looked like Fabregas was a false nine, Messi was on the right and Alcantara was at the head of the diamond, but Messi ended up more central and Alcantara played more on the right.
Match-up
We effectively had two diamonds in the centre of the pitch with an obvious 4 v 4 battle. Barca were more fluid within this shape, though, and this contributed to them using the ball better in the centre of the pitch, and winning the possession battle. Milan should be commended for the way they pressed Barca early on – with Boateng setting the tempo for the rest of the side with his work rate.
Boateng’s battle against Busquets was particularly interesting. Vertical movement is important to both players’ game – Boateng’s job is to connect the midfield and defence rather than to act as a traditional ‘trequartista’, whilst Busquets is probably the best player in the world at dropping from midfield into defence to turn a back four into a back three.
Barcelona's average positions throughout the 90 minutes - look how Busquets (16) gets deeper and deeper
Therefore, with Busquets trying to stay goalside of Boateng, the latter tried to play very high up in order to force Busquets back. Milan looked more like a front three than a front two for much of the game, with the two forwards coming deep and wide to bring a centre-back out and create space for Boateng. By the end, Busquets was practically playing as another centre-back in a four, in order to maintain Barca’s spare man at the back – see the diagrams on the right, courtesy of UEFA.com.
Goals
The concept of a ’spare man’ was important, and maintained at both ends. With the diamonds matching each other, Barcelona usually had one of the outside centre-backs free (The Milan front two would drift across the pitch) whilst Milan had at least one centre-back spare. “At least” is a key term, because Barcelona played no permanent central striker. The first goal was an obvious example of this – Thiago, Fabregas and Messi, the three taking it turns to be in a centre-forward position, worked the ball across, Aquilani didn’t track Seydou Keita properly, and this resulted in a goal.
Tracking midfield runners caused problems for Milan throughout – Fabregas had a good chance when he burst past the defence, Aquilani fouled Xavi for the penalty for Barca’s second – and Xavi also got the winner.
At the other end, Milan always looked likely to prosper down their left. With Busquets focusing upon getting goalside of Boateng, Xavi became the central ball player; tucked in and very narrow, often failing to cover the right flank. With the confusion / fluidity ahead of him, Barca were bare on that flank. Whereas on the other side, you had David Villa remaining high up against Ignazio Abate, the energy of Keita, plus the mobility and pace of Eric Abidal, but Puyol was left to cover too much ground. He had to come out to Clarence Seedorf and let Ibrahimovic in behind for the goal. It was also notable that on 34 minutes it was notable that he moved right into Mascherano’s zone to beat Ibrahimovic to a header, another reason the right-back area was looking undermanned.
Later developments
At half time Pato replaced Robinho, but a more significant change was when van Bommel was removed with the more attack-minded Antonio Nocerino coming on, and Seedorf going to the holding role. Milan’s approach changed little although they became a little more direct, with Ibrahimovic an aerial route.
After going 3-2 ahead through Xavi, Barcelona didn’t pass their way to victory like usual. Maybe they didn’t have the system or the players to do so – the back three had to remain quite tight and were easy to close down, Busquets was forced back, and there was no Andres Iniesta. Guardiola brought on Alexis Sanchez and Pedro Rodriguez (the latter for Fabregas), which suggests he wanted to either (a) get another goal or (b) focus on pressing. Usually, you’d expect Fabregas to drop into midfield, or maybe Gerard Pique to come on in order allow Busquets to set the tempo in the middle. Barcelona completed marginally more passes than Milan in the final minutes, but nothing like the number they usually record when ahead.
Conclusion
Both managers seemed to treat this game as something of an exhibition match – it’s hard to believe it would have been so open if this was a semi-final between the two sides.
Barcelona’s formation continues to be interesting, but in this match it’s not certain it worked, despite the overall victory. They were too open down their right, Messi’s through balls were superb but he rarely got into goalscoring positions, and they failed to keep hold of the ball late on. Guardiola likes the 3-4-3 and wants to evolve, but Barca need more work to play this way against Europe’s best.
Milan 2-3 Barcelona: Xavi gets the winner
ZM do you reckon he will keep this 3-4-3 come the 10th against Real? Doesn’t seem like a good idea to me..
Probably not as Guardiola only uses the 3-4-3 against teams playing with two strikers.
This – and partly just because the 4-3-3 is more secure.
Also depends on how many defenders are fit on 10th December.
This looked like the Ajax 3-4-3, where Busquets is in the Rijkaard role. So it is his job to drop back and make the back 3 a back 4 when against a center forward, and that might be Pep’s plan for dealing with 1 or 3 forward systems.
But, I think the 4-3-3 works better.
I was hoping you’d write on this game. It might be the best game I’ve ever seen.
I think Pep picked this formation because it suited playing against a team without wide attacking players. It was a bold way to get Xavi, Thiago and Fabregas together in the midfield, and have a spare player at the back (Masch). He could have easily played with a more conventional back four, but why have two defenders in starting positions on the flanks against an Italian team?
The obvious risk is that their midfielders will come into those areas, as you said, but Pep figured Thiago and Keita would help keep them pinned back on their respective sides (similar how Arsenal always uses Walcott to keep Cole in check, but in the middle third).
It was a joy to watch so much quality on the field, and two tacticians who played to score more than the other team. Maybe it was because it was such a “low pressure” game, or maybe it was because injuries dictated neither could play any other way. Ironically, both might have been better served had the result gone the other way. What price Barca to get a club from Manchester and A.C. Milan to get Real Madrid in the second round?
Agreed, but on – “but why have two defenders in starting positions on the flanks against an Italian team?” – to have them free to attack? Imagine Alves (I know he wasn’t fit) v Milan last night…but overall you’re prob right.
Alves was suspended.
Tactics aside don’t quite get where all this praising about this game come from. Yes, there were goals but neither Barça, nor AC Milan played at their best. Actually, they played very, very far from their best.
Not that much emotions either as only win would give AC 1st place in the group and any hopes they might have had for that were pretty much thrown out of the window with the 1st goal for the Spanish team (yes, Ibra’s and Boateng’s goal gave them a lifeline, but it didn’t last long).
Best game ever? Not in a million years.
By the way, what again happened to Pique? Seems like there’s no end to his injuries.
Agreed. I don’t regularly watch La Liga, but I think Barcelona might have played well under its standard. From a Milanista point of view, I was waiting to see this match because I think leaving possession to opponents and rapidly counter-attacking is our best game. We didn’t certainly do it yesterday: we won a scudetto with Allegri, maybe we’ll repeat this year, but we’re far too slow to compete in Europe. Aside from tactics, which you can always debate, our problem is the lack of pace while getting the ball out of the defence. A fully fit and pressing Barcelona team would cause Milan not going thru the midfield line once. Then, there is for sure a problem in quality of midfielders, highlighted by the fact that Pato was never served in the right way.
Pique was fine, last I checked. According to Pique himself, Mascherano is currently the first CB in the pecking order (http://www.totalbarca.com/2011/news/pique-mascherano-is-the-best-centre-back-at-the-moment/)
I completely agree that Barca’s right side was exposed, Puyol’s lack of mobility and vulnerability in one on one situations should have been exploited more. (The last time Puyol played RB, that I can recall, was the 2009 CL final against United). I wonder how the match would have played out if Alvez and Pique could have played instead of Puyol and Masch. Or even if Masch played RB and Puyol played center.
Milan could have also exploited the wings more, the obvious vulnerability in a 3-4-3 formation. I’m not really familiar with Milan’s squad so I don’t know if they have any classic wingers that can run the flanks.
I also had the sense that both managers played with a bit more risk than they would have in a knockout match. After Milan conceded, I wondered if they would go into “damage control” mode and focus on counterattacking. But they started pressing higher up the pitch instead, which could have backfired if Barca weren’t so shakey in their transitions to attack (probably due to missing Alves and Iniesta, Puyol and Abidal offered little in the way of attack and Keita isn’t as creative).
I imagine that if Barca could have had their regular starting 11 they would have won by a larger margin as they would have had more solid defense and more attacking options, yet Milanistas will probably overlook this detail and take confidence in the close scoreline and the chances they created.
It’s easy to see why the game was open. Without a win Milan would have no hope of topping the group, while a loss or a draw means nothing to Milan.
Milan have settled for a 4-3-1-2 formation. They have left midfielders like Emmanuelson and a more attack-minded LB in Taiwo, but not a winger in the traditional sense. Allegri opted for Zambrotta for his experience in big games, though in hindsight Taiwo might have been a better choice.
RB in a 3 man defence? Surely you mean RCB or something along those lines? Milan (like most Italian sides) don’t really have a classic winger who can stretch the defence. They’ve long relied on there full-backs to provide width. I’m not really convinced by the 3-4-3 Barca have been playing this year. Their performances haven’t really lived up to the football they were producing last season with Messi playing far more centrally.
Overall an extremely open game that was probably very enjoyable for a neutral, but not for me as a Milan fan. I think Allegri wanted to play Seedorf as well as Aquilani so that advancing the ball along the floor would be easier. It worked well initially, but then for some reason Milan resorted to the long balls to Ibra.
The higher line is not something Milan are used to playing, and that combined with van Bommel’s inneffective pressing left a huge gap infront if the back four that Barca kept exploiting. This forced one of Nesta or Thiago Silva to come high up the pitch to meet them, usually Nesta, causing Abate to constanly have to run across and cover. The first goal seemed directly as a result of this. Nesta comes high up, Abate covers, space opens up on Abate’s side and Keita makes a shuttling run untracked to get in behind. Milan may have been better off sitting deep and countering, and as you said ZM this is not the usual way both of these sides play. I guess Allegri used this game as an experiment to see whether or not Milan could become a pressing team when necesary because lets face it, this game was not a must win.
“I felt before the game that they would play against us in the same way as they did in the first game [at the Camp Nou] when they closed us out from the inside. That is why we started with [Lionel] Messi on the right but they took advantage of their full-backs when attacking us. For that reason we had to ask Thiago [Alcántara] to play more defensively and he fought and worked hard. He is a player with great self esteem and he feels strong. His audacious attitude helps him to feel confident in whatever position he plays.” Pep’s tactical comments on the match. He also admits in the article that he was basicall
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/matches/round=2000263/match=2007647/postmatch/quotes/index.html#guardiola+happy+entertain
Do you have the same positional diagrams for Milan? I noticed that particularly early in 2nd half, Milan were pushing right up on Barca. Not just using 3 men to close down the barca back 3+Busquets, but their back 4 was right up and not afraid to come into the barca half to win the ball. High risk to leave that much space behind them but Barca (unusually) seemed unable to keep the ball well enough in midfield to take advantage.
Great read as always, ZM. You’re one of the few who gets Busquets brilliance.
My question is, did you see Barca in a 4-2-4 after Sanchez came on, or was that just fluidity?
I had them playing a 4-2-4, with Thiago out left, Cesc/Messi inside, Sanchez right, with Cesc and Thiago alternating: http://twelvepointcourier.blogspot.com/2011/11/fluid-tactics-from-barcelona.html
Curious if you guys saw the same thing or if I’m reaching too much.
In the last diagram (minutes 76-90) it looks totally 4-2-4.
I’m surprised the last ten minutes didn’t make it look like more of a regular shape — I thought Thiago was playing further back, supporting the midfield.
Though Barca still had a far share of possession, and Thiago was getting forward quite a bit.
“At the other end, Milan always looked likely to prosper down their left. With Busquets focusing upon stopping Boateng, Xavi became the central ball player; tucked in and very narrow, often failing to cover the right flank. With the confusion / fluidity ahead of him, Barca were bare on that flank.”
If Xavi was moving inside to replace Busquets as the deepest ball player, Guardiola could have put Thiago into the right centre mid position to cover that flank, with Messi wide right and Cesc as the false nine. These moves would result in the two midfields mirroring each other, with Keita on Aquilani, Thiago on Seedorf, and both Xavi and van Bommel free in deeper positions, although Cesc’s movement would mean that van Bommel wouldn’t be free all the time. Plus, he’s not the most creative, so leaving him free some of the time would be acceptable, particularly if it meant that Xavi could have some freedom to spray the ball about from deep.
“Guardiola could have put Thiago into the right centre mid position to cover that flank” – yeah, Thiago was on that side for the first goal, but too high up…
It’s a pity that Barca didn’t have someone out there who could play like Keita but on the right hand side. That would’ve shored things up nicely. But, then again, who would you have left out?
As far as Thiago, he needs to defend better when playing 3-4-3.
The first goal goes like this: Abidal gives the ball away!,…, Aquilani passes (great switch of play) to Seedorf (free and positioned as a left forward!), Puyol is marking Ibra but needs to come right to face Seedorf, while Ibra becomes free, gets the pass from Seedorf and scores. Meanwhile Thiago is jogging back and watching this. I think Thiago needs to get back much more aggressively and take on Ibra, because he left Seedorf free.
I would say Abi dont loose the ball like that but even more I would tell Thiago to watch his back and dont leave Puyol in this situation.
I remain unconvinced by Guardiola’s 3-4-3. With this formation it seems Xavi/Iniesta have less options when they have the ball (as they can not make an easy lateral pass to their full-back), and are therefore easier to press. Barcelona has more difficulties dominating games this way.
Guardiola apparently thinks that his 3-4-3 gives his side more attacking options, and that that justifies the extra risk of playing only 3 players at the back:
http://www.marca.com/2011/11/24/futbol/equipos/barcelona/1322097384.html
I just don’t see it. But maybe he is afraid that his 4-3-3 might become predictable, and that the team needs more options
I love how Pep has taken the best philosophies from Cruijff and a little bit of van Gaal, and created this amazing team.
Don’t know why Pep dropped Pique, since he is only one who is capable to compete with Ibra in terms of height. Using Keita in midfield, since he is neither creative nor defensive. And the use of Messi at the right makes no sense, since it doesn’t only make Barca exposed on that side, but it also makes Messi further from the goal. Barca should just copy their formation they used against Villarreal with Pique at the back and Sanchez at right.
Love the video review for the Chelsea-Liverpool game. Really good. Is it going to be a regular thing?
One of the pleasures of watching Barca play with no set striker is how their horizontal movement occupies a defense and leaves open lanes for late vertical runs by Keita or Xavi. Fantastic game.
Interesting to see how the Barca back-line and Valdes booted the ball upfield a lot more in this game, rather than trying to play out from the back. I think that’s a consequence of playing three at the back (fewer options) but also Guardiola knows that, in the Classicos, he will have to combat RM pressing high up the pitch. Barcelona’s greatest vulnerability is when it tries to play out from the back and beat a heavy press. Mourinho knows that and is trying to set up RM accordingly; but Guardiola can see what Mourinho is planning and is giving his players more latitude to bail out and take the safety first option.
If I recall, 3-4-3 got Ajax and Holland into trouble around 1996 because theams bagan to attack them in a 4-3-3. By the 1998 World cup finals, the Dutch had abandoned it.
Wander if the same will happen to Barca becuase it only works agaisnt narrow 2 striker systems
You seem to be missing the point–barca only use the 3-man back line precisely when facing a side who plays w/ 2 up front and is narrow in shape. Otherwise its their standard 4-3-3.
And I thought that was the point I was making!
Do you think Villa should have been playing the above match? I feel that Guardiola played him to keep his spirits up, and to prevent the media from playing out another soap opera.
However in my opinion, Barca required atleast 1 player like Pedro on the field to stretch the play and keep the Milanese defence pegged back and have them guessing. And since Thiago-Messi-Cesc triangle was more involved on the right of the pitch keeping the Zambrotta-Nesta-Silva side occupied, i feel that a player who could scare Abate and keep him pegged back would be Cuenca/Sanchez with their relatively higher dynamism.
In my personal opinion, Villa needs to be kept in the right-wing/central position to get his confidence back… with Messi drifting more frequently from the right onto his left foot, he seems to be more pedestrian; left behind to watch Messi shoot at goal more often than not…he seems to be having a hard time trying to get into the attack.
The last time Villa played extremely well was in the CL final, where he was given more space on the right. He looked more lethal, dovetailing with Messi drifting in.
If I look at the great diagrams on the right apart from #16’s movement (like ZM notes) I’d have to say that #11’s average positioning from minute 16-75 would infuriate me as a coach. I didn’t see the game so can’t say much except it seems from the pictures that that player has no understanding of the system, also that that player is not coached by his team mates on the field to get in correct positions. I don’t rate him in this system, no matter how gifted he might be.
Furthermore, I like the idea of this system but of the back 3(4 when #16 drops back) none have a great vision or passing ability … If I pulled a CM back to CB I’d pull back a breaker with passing ability and not just a breaker … oh, and with passing ability I don’t mean short passes back or sideways but sudden shifts in attacking side or picking free players out wide (Frank de Boer to Bergkamp idea from the WC in the USA) this to be able to put some surprise into the short passing game, which works so well for them. Such a player would be on my “shopping list” or I’d look to see what is available amongst all midfielders/defenders of my squad … any suggestions from those who know the Barcelona squad well?
The task you describe is tailored for Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso who differently from Busquets is gifted with a telemetric ability for middle- and long-range passing, only a bit slow sometimes. We might have long known it but after Carvalho’s injury and Ramos shift to CB it’s been increasingly evident how well Alonso excels in just that role, often alternating with Ramos in the early build up after recovery.
Wish you good luck though trying to convince Barca people to drop Busquets for Alonso. And probably they are right as Alonso is less well suited for the intricacies of the rapid short-passing play in the midfield that is central for the football played by the Catalans.
Read somewhere that in the recent International matches, Spain scored 8 of their goals, when Busquests was the lone DM.
Not just Catalans, even Del Bosque will not want to drop Busquests for Alonso.
to the two above (DT and Rajesh) … hehe, yeah X.Alonso would be (and is) great … but they wouldn’t drop Busquets for him but Mascherano as he was the CB … now I don’t rate Bus. highly as some people do but I rate Mas. even less, I see both as a waste of space who’s positions can be occupied by better players (though not sure which ones) … but that’s just my preference for a type of player who I like seeing at DCM/CD, I respect both your opinions and can see where you come from.
My basic premise for a player to be put on the field is that he needs technique … this is in heading, tackling, passing, ball control, two-footed ability, etc. … the basics really … I understand that not all players will be good at every one of those … now, if I’m playing a passing game I’d never play Bus., why? because he passing is pretty terrible along with ball control … this is where passing efficiency stats can be misleading, just because the recipient receives the ball, thus the pass is noted as successful, does not mean that the pass was good … next time Barcelona is on the TV just pay close attention to Bus. and watch how
a) his team-mates often skip him thus he’s filling space and only is there as security of passes go wrong.
b) when he gets a ball just how many of his passes are not good (but do arrive) in that they are “behind” the teammate causing them to halt their movement/turn/wait for the ball to arrive … or are in their feet when it would have been beneficial to play it a touch(yard) ahead to they can move into the ball with attacking intent and tap it with good pace to the next team mate.
c) after a pass has been sent, his movement … more often than not this is towards the one he passed to, which may be okay on select occasions but really for a triangle/1-2 you’d want to see perpendicular movement in relation to the pass. Or he stays stationary, which for the opposition is wonderful to defend against. I understand he wants to stay in a defensive position but he can always move back after the ball has moved to another area of the pitch.
to end with some positive words … Bus. is very good at sticking to his tasks, tactically very astute, places himself as a great teamplayer and knows his role well … he’s still young so still has plenty of time to improve his skills … so I would advise him to train the basics an hour of more after practice with one or two team mates who are eager to get some extra work in, I can see him get better in a year or two but he needs to work extra hard than those who have pure talent.
No need to read between lines to understand that you aren’t a fan of Busquets, not me either. Having said that I have to add that I can see why, and even agree with the idea of Busquets playing in the Spain NT. With a defensive core formed by Pique and Puyol (until now) plus a midfield led by Xavi and Iniesta, the NT mirrors the FCB and therefore it makes perfect sense to use the same piece (Busquets) in between the two lines.
What the Alonso detractors (most but not all of them Catalans or other Barca followers) fail to appreciate is that differently from Barca team the NT can deploy Alonso plus wingers (ex. Navas), or a target center like Llorente opening for alternatives (of the kind of those you were asking for higher up in this tread) to the barcelonesque short passing style. Alternatives that Barca’s #16 can’t bring.
haha … yeah
… well, true, I agree on all points.
I guess I’m not a fan of the one dimensional DMC that is seen on most fields now-a-days … if all a player is doing is bringing that aspect of breaking down an opponents game, I say “meh” … and then I see line-ups of some of the most highly rated teams with two of that type sitting in front of a back 4 (usually.) Win or lose, those teams never get my respect.
I also think … for the NT, why not play X.Alonso as one of the 2 DCs and keep Bus. where he is? But then, for which of the two currently at DC? …
Ah well, I can talk about this for ages … as you can tell … and no one is going to agree with me if they want their team to win, I always just throw my ideas out there hoping people see that this game can be fun … I want to see a team to play entertaining (proactive, energetic, adventurous, skillful, with sportsmanship etc) … winning comes second in my book.
@bart
I agree. Sadly, in professional football sportmanship and winning drive are becoming two mutually exclusive terms. Taking about the #16…
You really should watch more of Busquet’s play if you think that he’s a poor passer. He’s the best “half-touch” passer on the team, even Xavi says so, and when needed he can do Xavi/Messi-esque passes as well. Good luck getting him to stay on his feet if he gets even slightly fouled though; the man sure loves to embellish.
Don’t know why Pep dropped Pique, since he is only one who is capable to compete with Ibra in terms of height. Using Keita in midfield is a failure, since he is neither creative nor defensive. And the use of Messi at the right makes no sense, since it disrupts the shape of Barca with his tendency to cut inside. Barca should just copy their formation they used against Villarreal with Pique at the back and Sanchez at right.
Guardiola was forced to play 3-4-3 because of the suspension of Alves. Pique seems to be in very bad form and Iniesta was not available too. Add to this the fact that this was a no consequence match. But still, I find it hard to believe that Guardiola didnt foresee that huge space Puyol will have to cover by himselves. He did rectify this in the second half though.
But as you say, this was a match Barca didnt have control of, which is quite clear from a couple of matters
- Valdes kicks the ball rather than passing it
- Barca’s pressing game was lacking or they pressed only by 30% of what they would normally do
- Inspite of having 4 midfielders Barca looked like a team vulnerable to attack any moment
Milan should be very content with what they managed, as seen by all the comments coming out of Milan. But they could keep in mind that a Barca side without Iniesta, Alves and Pique defeated them at home. And the margin would have been higher if not for Abbiati and the bad luck/form of Villa.
Whatever, Messi’s pass to Xavi through 5 Milan players made my day. Players can only dream about such a ball. Everybody talks about Xavi and Iniesta for assists. But a Messi assist is much better than their best assists. Precision, Weight and Vision, all perfect.
And whatever people say for any kind of reasons, Busquests is the best defensive midfielder today and he is only 23.
I am amazed by Seedorf too. What a player.
Completely agree on Messi and Seedorf. His assist to Ibrahimovic’s goal was simple, but perfectly played. Really enjoyed that one.
I was intrigued by the lack of willingness shown by Barca to press in the second half.
Was this because they were just ‘experimenting’ or was it because they were in the lead or maybe because of Pato? In the previous match Barca’s high line and pressure in the attacking third was by-passed by Pato’s pace.
If it was the last reason, Barca could be vulnerable to teams having fast strikers – would be interesting to see how Napoli would match up against Barca.
Ha. In case you missed Napoli concede 5 to Barca in pre-season
Aha, great use of the diagram for Busquets. I was sure it had been a crazy 4-4-2 with Busquets and Mascherano in the middle and Puyols wide. Thanks for clarifying.
Milan – I thought Nesta and Silva did well against Fab and messi, not being dragged over the pitch too much, especially Nesta, who organised the defense well. Zambrotta also was courageous getting forward for Milan, something that helped expose Barca’s weakness down that side defensively, but a move some players might not have done facing messi. Abate kept villa in check mostly, while Abiate had was fantastic in goal, underrated.
In midfield, MVB was poor, failing to really stop barca playing, whilst giving the ball away consistently. Aquilani was also poor, not really breaking up any moves and failing to track runs from midfield, something MVB also was guilty of. Aquilani also failed to keep the ball and offered little going forward. Seedorf was milans shining light in a poor midfield, using the ball intelligently (despite being pressed well by xavi) and get the ball forward for Milan. But again defensively he was caught out, and struggled to win the ball back off milan.
Boateng played very high up and its hard to say he was in midfield, he got into great goal scoring positions and got himself a good goal. He was dangerous throughout and Barca struggled to handle him. Ibra also had a good game, a good target for Milan when they needed to get high up the pitch, he won most aerial battles and constantly look to set up his team mates (eg his assist) while he managed to get a goal himself with an excellent finish. Robinho was a bit quiet, and probably starved of the ball a bit, but his movement was excellent and he dragged barca defense about well, while his pace was always a danger.
Overall, Milan lost the midfield battle comepletely, though they competed well in defense and attack. But against Barca, you always need to compete in the middle.
Barca – They struggled at the back against Milans fluid front three. Busquets basically played in defense so i will include him here. He struggled to deal with boateng, losing out in individual battles. Mascherano also didnt fare well against Ibra, losing out in the air (predictable) but also being dragged out of position a lot. Puyol often found himself up against no1, and often moved into different positions either pushing up the pitch to help in midfield, or helping mascherano deal with Ibra. But this left space to move into for Milans front three, and contributed to a poor defensive showing by Barca. Also Puyol was Barcas free player but doesnt have the ability on the ball to really harm milan. Abidal did a good job, getting into good positions to cover, and was probably there best player in defense (robinho was the least influential player, subsequently up against abidal).
In midfield, Barca ruled the pitch, though they were helped by Milan. Xavi was given far too much room and dictated the game, showing off all his skills and even got himself a goal, showing how little attention he got from milan all game. Keita did a good job of consistently getting the ball to xavi. Keita also pressed extremely well and forced aquilani into a lot of mistakes, while also getting forward to good effect (almost a surprise player for Milan ala Song against Dortmund). Thiago played a good game too, getting into great positions and linking with messi and fab really well. He was given too much space too and played some good passes, though was guilty of wasting good chances too. He also did a good job of pressing MVB and forcing him into mistakes, though sometimes he wasnt in a position too (when playing too high up) and left MVB free, though this didnt have uch of an impact.
Messi and Fab worked well together, though they had a tough time up against a tough Milan defense. Messi’s movement was fantastic and he was Barca’ most dangerous player (should have scored from open play at least twice) but he didnt control the game as much as he can and this has been an issue this season, with messi not dictating games as he did last season. Fab’s movement was also excellent and against a weaker defense Barca would have scored at least 5. He also played some great balls and held up the ball well, letting thago,keita and Xavi bomb forward. Villa had a quite game, marshaled well by Abate, and sometimes staying too wide, and becoming isolated. His movement should have been better, and he didnt win many one-on-one battles with Abate.
Overall, Barca were weak defensively, but dominated in midfield and would have scored more if not for Milans good defense.
we may not always agree but I like you little round-ups for both teams, cheers!
Really enjoyable match and, typically, analysis to match!
I think this match, while won by Barca, proves that they are no longer infallible. AC Milan deserved to lose, but were by no means dominated. The latter stages of this year’s Champions League could be supremely interesting…
Not being infallible without Alves, Iniesta, and Pique isn’t that shocking, is it?
And, to be fair, Abbiati made a number of brilliant saves. AC Milan deserves praise for rising to the occasion. Barcelona doesn’t deserve anti-laudits for some one deciding to go tit-for-tat with them.
I would have like to see what the speed of Tawio would have done against Barc.
Milan should consider move Ibra back in the current KPB role, simply turn Ibra into Milan’s Messi and playing Robinho and Pato up front. Ibra can drop back and play good defense when he wants to, and is a great passer. This also would move Boateng back to Midfield 3 and position I think he is more valuable at.
I really have a question that needs answering. Do you guys think the referee got it right concerning the penalty?
as much as Xavi dominated the midfield, i saw replays and some more replays showing he intended to fall before Aquilani merely touched him.
Replays show it’s clearly a dive. He started falling before Aquilani touched him.
Would’ve loved to see a game where that didn’t happen and Milan went ahead instead.
That 343 got to be Ajax’s Van Gaal, no?
correction: Van Gaal’s Ajax
Actually Cruyff used in first in the late 80’s
First time I saw it was in a Cup Winner’s Cup Final
Cruyff used the 3-4-3, but this resembles Van Gaal’s system only much less rigid.
Barcelona are leaking goals this season. How long can they rely on Mascherano and Busquets to shore up their defense.
For all of the Guardiola praise, the hallmark of a great manager is the ability to make new sides as time goes on. Will he be able to do it?
Have searched high and low for the area where you found the average positioning per :15 during the match. Was hoping to find similar analysis for other matches.
Can you let me how to navigate to this area on the UEFA site?
Thank you … enjoy your site alot!
Google ‘uefa press kits’, first match, under ‘TL’ !
Thank You!
Puyol–Mascherano—Abidal
——–Busquets———–
Thiago———–Keita
———-Xavi——
Fabregas–Messi–D Villa
My Milan gameplan:
—–Ibrahimovic——-
Seedorf–Boateng—Pato
Ambrosini–MVB–Flamini
Zambrotta Silva Abate
Possibly replace MVB with Nesta, and Silva moving to midfield. Possibly replace Flamini with Gattuso, and still got Robinho and Cassano to make a difference in final few minutes. Possibly also use Pato upfront solo, no Ibrahimovic, Aquilani on Right Attacking Midfield, and Seedorf possibly swapping with Emanuelson. Also, Nocerino could replace Ambrosini for more of a combatative game rather than a controlled one.
That’s how Barca played right? And how they are (basically) toying with getting honed this season? Failing that they can go 4-3-3 and beat anyone, but they’re trying to turn their defence line into a kind of semi-midfield.
In my opinion AC Milan did pretty well to get to 2-3, (Bear in mind in a Knockout situation, this match would A) have not been so open anyway but B) 5-4 on aggregate; compare to some of Barca’s other aggregate scores notched up recently. Was it 6-3 against Arsenal? And 4-2 or 5-2 against Madrid? 5- or 6-1 against highly organized Donetsk?)
Anyway, I think Milan went for an idea that didnt work bcos of their players. Van Bommel had a bad game and was left unattended by likes of Seedorf, and the first goal was caused by a van Bommel/Abate cock-up that probably wouldn’t have happened if Matheiu Flamini had been in a kind of RCM/RM/RDMF position. Also, Allegri’s been complaining since he walked in the door at Milanello for a Left-Sided Midfielder, and who does he get? Urby Emanuelson and Taye Taiwo… not bad players, but they’re not what he was after I would suggest. So what’s Seedorf (And sometimes Ambrosini) doing in LCM/LM ? It’s Seedorf’s last season in red-and-black before he retires or goes to Brazil, where his wife’s fromm and he has said many times he wants to play as a No.10 behind the striker. Instead he’s parked in the hustle and bustle of Central Midfield and isn’t on the scoresheet as much as he used to be.
I would have played a 3-3-3-1 if I was the Milan coach. Obviously it takes a long time to drill that formation into players, maybe it’s easier to just get right what they tried to do, but anyway, my 3-3-3-1 looks to get right in Barca’s faces and go for a slightly more man-to-man marking that zonally, since Barca really seem to thrive on through passes to forwards down the channels ( at convergence of Fullback/Centreback).
Also, why didn’t Allegri field Pato? If only for his exploits in the first 20 seconds of that game in Camp Nou….
Also, people are asking why didn’t Taiwo play- Allegri’s playing Zambrotta at Leftback against Barcelona because Zam is pretty much two-footed so he can deal with whatever comes down the left flank. Barca are super-dangerous from Right and Right-Centre, and Zambrotta is SUCH a useful player to have on your squad for this situation. He also unlike some other fading stars, hasn’t lost that “yard of pace” and is a top crosser too. I feel that even had Jankulovski still been at ACM, Zam would still have started these two Barca games on Left-back.
Interesting game. Over the two games Milan took a good bite at Barcelona. Mourinho no doubt watched glued to the screen (He certainly wasn’t watching Madrid hitting Zagreb for six.)
I feel that AC Milan can challenge likes of Barca, Man U, Real Madrid right into the Semifinals of UCL this year. Just a signing or two in January- not marquee stuff, neither, just bread and butter signings for cover and ACM should be raring to go.
I was also going to say – I know playing 3 at the back against this Barca side is suicide, but look at Man U in 2011 Final. Evra and Vidic ended up literally doing the same things, and one could not help but feel that either of them could have done with more space to operate in and a helping hand from deep defensive midfield. I’m thinking along the lines of one line of 4 being a wonderful tool, but two lines of 3 adding bite to a defence, especially up against a guy like Messi who will run at a defence and needs more people to hand to get a foot in.
Seedorf in Centrocampista is good looking, but ultimately doesn’t deliver. He will dribble, spray the ball around, trap the ball perfectly, win fouls, but not deliver anything tangible in terms of goal threat or creative threat, and hardly a pip defensively. Behind the striker his flair has more space to breathe and create opportunities for guys like Ibra, Prince, Cassano and of course the effervescent Filippo Inzaghi, who will all jump at any quarter-chance for a goal.
I feel that a midfield duo with a combined age of 69 (Van Bommel-Clarence) needs to be performing at peak otherwise looks jaded. Hopefully replacements come in so that come March, April guys like Seedorf and MvB are ONLY seeing Champs Lge action – it can be won with an old team, as Milan themselves showed in 2007.