AC Milan 1-1 Barcelona: A valuable point earned at San Siro
Full-time: AC Milan 1-1 Barcelona
Goals: Messi (23′)
Match date: October 22, 2013
Stadium: San Siro
Competition: UEFA Champions League
Barcelona line-up: Valdés, Adriano, Mascherano, Piqué, Daniel Alves, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar, Alexis Sanchez.
Two giants of Europe collided at the San Siro this Tuesday night, as Barcelona visited AC Milan in Italy soil. The two teams seemed happy to come out of this game with 1 point each, as the match ended with a 1-1 draw. The “Rossoneri” managed to score the opener still inside the first 10 minutes of the first half, after taking advantage of a defensive mistake committed by Javier Mascherano. The Argentinian tried to clear off a bouncing ball, but ended up shooting against Robinho, who was attempting to close distance to him. The Brazilian then beat Piqué on a short sprint, linked up with Kaká and finished it off giving no chances to Victor Valdés.
The response arrived shortly after though and once again coming off a defensive mistake. This time it was Milan‘s defense who messed it up, allowing for Andrés Iniesta to lead the counter and deliver the ball to an unmarked Lionel Messi. That’s usually synonym of trouble for Barça‘s opponents and Messi made sure he wouldn’t miss his big chance to set things square. The Argentinian cutted inside to get into a better position before striking the ball and equalized things at San Siro.
Barça controlled the rest of the game by playing in Milan‘s half during most of the time, but the “Rossoneri” preferred to keep the bus parked in front of their goal, as they were more than happy to collect 1 point from this game. Neymar didn’t have much space to shine this Tuesday night, but at least he got to combine well with his teammates and still got close to score in one or two occasions. Next Saturday we’ll have a Barcelona vs Real Madrid “Clasico” for La Liga, and all eyes will be at the Camp Nou to follow the battle of Messi & Neymar vs Ronaldo and Bale for the very first time.
Sources: fcbarcelona.com