The Catalan giants were forced to pack their bags and leave for destination Camp Nou in anticipation of the return leg, as the club in transition pulled off a surprise.
For the past few years, the Italian sides have just been a shadow of their fearful past.
From San Siro to Naples or from Turin to Estadio Olimpico, since the remarkable showing of the Nerrazuri in 2010, the Italians have totally flattered to deceive at the biggest stage of Europe’s most elite football competition.
However, last night proved to be a surprising one as the Milanese flag waved high and above all others in the Italian capital.
In what was to be the 2nd most interesting tie of the round, off course down in the pecking order behind the Real Madrid vs. Manchester United spectacle, Milan played host to a side that has re-written history over the course of the past half
a decade, F.C Barcelona.
San Siro did not turn out to be the most welcoming of places for the supporters who bore the famous red flag of Rossoneri, when the two sides locked horns in the Champions League last time. The giants from Cataluña eased past the aging Milan side as the
little boy from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Argentina-c2841 left the Italian veterans helpless.
However, this cold night in Italia provided a lot of warmth in terms of emotions and expectations, as Milan did the impossible.
Barcelona’s acting manager, Roura, had attempted to initiate the trick of mind games, as he termed Milan as the favourites for the two-legged tie. Allergi was having none of it as his humble approach paid off.
There were to be no fireworks in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 as Kevin Prince Boateng broke the deadlock with 57 minutes gone, a fine finish from the edge of the area left Valdez rooted to the ground, leaving the orange shirts wondering that what had gone wrong.
As expected, Barcelona possessed the ball for almost the entire match, but the tactics at Milan were well rehearsed and put to execution in a manner that defied perfection of the top order.
Just when it looked that Barcelona were closing in for the crucial away goal that would bring them back in the tie, up stepped another former Premier League player to take matters out of reach from the Catalan’s clutching grips.
Sulley Ali Muntari’s superb strike, 9 minutes from time, inflicted a 2 goal deficit on the Camp Nou based outfit as they left the field in awe of the near-perfect prowess, exhibited by the men in Red and Black.
Celebrations were high in the stadium that was once considered as a fortress. May be the classy display of the determined Milanese outfit will see that adjective restored for the place as the Italians find themselves in pole position to make it through to
the next round of the UEFA Champions League.
90 nervous minutes in Cataluña await the disciplined San Siro based players, who will without doubt be looking to rubberstamp their authority in front of almost 100,000 supporters.
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