AC Milan general spiel 2.0

[vtec]

we'll probably poop our sheets before the game even begins, so i don't think there's any worry of us keeping a clean sheet. in fact, a dollar bet on a milan clean sheet should pay as much as a powerball lottery with the bookies. if somehow we manage to squeak by barcelona, then allegri is the greatest tactician on the planet.

and regarding the mr x thing, that's why i completely ignore it. i completely forgot that they did that again this year. fool me once...

[RomaShield27]

Barcelona v Milan revisited: The night in 1994 the Dream died
/ Posted by Sid Lowe / / Wednesday 28 March 2012 09.03 BST

Milan face Barcelona in this year's Champions League quarter-finals, having already put paid to one Barcelona Dream Team, 18 years ago in Athens. This is how they did it.

Many nights later, Barcelona's assistant coach admitted that it was impossible for them to win; the night before, Barcelona's actual coach insisted that it was impossible for them to lose. Which may be why they did exactly that. 18 May 1994 was supposed to be the night that the Dream Team became immortal. Instead, it was the night the dream died. Johan Cruyff promised to end Milan's hegemony; Milan ended theirs. Four league titles and a European Cup, over. Just like that.

The following November Barcelona destroyed Manchester United so completely that one United player refused to set foot back in the Camp Nou, but that was an ultimately meaningless last waltz, a one night stand for old times' sake. After Athens, Barcelona did not win another trophy under Cruyff, sacked in the midst of a blazing row with the vice-president Joan Gaspart one morning in early summer 1996, sparking a civil war whose effects are still felt today.

No one doubted Barcelona would win in Athens, least of all Barcelona. The Dream Team was a revolution, so was Cruyff. His approach was counter-cultural, changing the parameters of the sport, turning convention on its head. It was successful too: Barça had just clinched an unprecedented fourth successive league. Before the 1994 European Cup final, Cruyff had already been pictured holding the trophy.

"Barcelona are favourites," Cruyff said. "We're more complete, competitive and experienced than [in the 1992 final] at Wembley. Milan are nothing out of this world. They base their game on defence, we base ours on attack." To illustrate the point, Cruyff noted that while he had signed Romário, the Brazilian who had scored 30 in 33 games, Milan had spent the same on Marcel Desailly. "That," he said, "is telling." "Cruyff's words were inappropriate and really struck the team," Billy Costacurta recalled. "Had they not been, things might have been different."

On the morning of the match, the Catalan newspaper El Mundo Deportivo claimed that Barcelona were at their "sweetest moment", against "the poorest Milan of the Berlusconi era: Cruyff is a winner. [Fabio] Capello, by contrast, has not been up to the task internationally." Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard had gone. Milan were without two of their back four: Costacurta and Franco Baresi. "We weren't favourites," Paolo Maldini recalled. Barcelona knew that only too well.

The comedy show Crakovia does a satirical sketch of that final. In it, Cruyff's tactics board has no tactics, just a message: "Barcelona, champions." It's not a million miles from the truth. "We went there to collect the cup, not to compete for it," recalls one member of the backroom staff. Charly Rexach, the assistant coach, is explicit: "We didn't prepare; we lacked concentration. Athens was the beginning of the end." A current Barcelona director insists: "As a coach, Pep Guardiola has Cruyff's principles but with a rigour, seriousness and level of study that Cruyff simply never had."

Cruyff's team talk at Wembley had been: "Go out and enjoy yourselves". His team-talk in Athens was: "You're better than them, you're going to win." In 1992, he was hailed as a genius. In 1994, he was derided as a fool.

Milan smothered the Barcelona midfield. Desailly dominated, Demetrio Albertini created. Guardiola couldn't settle, Barcelona couldn't bring the ball out. Romário never saw it, nor did Hristo Stoichkov. "It was not that we played badly," Cruyff said afterwards, "it was that we did not play at all."

In every game, Cruyff had to chose one of his four foreigners – Romário, Ronald Koeman, Stoichkov, Michael Laudrup – to leave out. In Athens, he chose Laudrup, as he had done too often, especially since rumours had started over the Dane's future. Working with Cruyff was hard and it became clear that Laudrup probably would not sign a new deal. "When I saw Laudrup wasn't playing, I relaxed," Capello recalled. "He was the one that worried me." When Laudrup saw that, his mind was made up.

Milan scored twice in the first half, Daniele Massaro getting both. Two minutes into the second half Dejan Savicevic scored a glorious lob. "When the third went in, we knew it was over," the Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta recalls. "That was the worst night of my career." It finished 4-0, the biggest margin in a Champions League final. So much for boring, defensive Milan. Massaro collected his medal in Stoichkov's shirt – the Bulgarian was his hero. It was Milan's fifth European Cup; Barcelona had one.

The Barcelona dressing room was silent: "Dead," recalls one of the backroom staff, "dead, dead, dead. Just then, when the team needed support, they didn't get it." Cruyff paced, mute, then left the room. Eventually, Zubizarreta reminded them that they had won the league and could fight for it again the following season. He did not even get the chance and they didn't do so. The cracks had already started to appear, now they became chasms.

Barcelona had been astonishingly fortunate to win the league on the final day – for the third season in a row – and because Deportivo La Coruña's Miroslav Djukic had missed a last-minute penalty. By the time they got to Athens, Rexach says they were running on empty. Laudrup believes that the forthcoming World Cup was a factor too: a dozen Barcelona players were going to the US, "and that always creates a dip in form afterwards".

Stoichkov and Romário were the US World Cup's outstanding players; their club suffered for their countries' success. Romário was late back, snapping: "Cruyff didn't win the World Cup, I did." Stoichkov, his best friend, felt like he was held responsible for the Brazilian. The friendship became strained, not helped by the fact that, called to a reception with the Bulgarian president, Stoichkov did not join Romário's family in Rio as promised.

"Romário never returned from the World Cup. His body was there but his mind was still in Rio," the Bulgarian says. Accusations flew, suspicion grew. It wasn't long before Stoichkov was telling a radio station: "It's Cruyff or me."

Other problems had already been brewing before that, tensions building before the final were brought to the surface, exacerbated by defeat. "We rested on our laurels," Rexach remembers. "We didn't plan properly for the future carefully." Hurt by the 4-0, Cruyff reacted badly and tore the team apart immediately. Zubizarreta had been promised a contract renewal but it had not been signed. The day after the final he was told he would be leaving as the bus crossed the runway towards Barcelona's plane home, a decision that had Guardiola in tears. As for Laudrup, the man left out of that final, a few days later he announced that he too was going. To Real Madrid.

[RomaShield27]

Live webchat with Sid Lowe talking about Milan-Barca from 12pm BST:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012 ... ve-webchat?

[vtec]

sure, over one game, anything can happen. but playing them over two legs, whatever chances we have of winning get slashed by at least half. i don't have any optimism. even if by some miracle we end up winning 2-0, they will react strongly in the return leg in barcelona and overcome whatever they need.

[RomaShield27]

I actually think you probably have a better chance cos its a two-leg encounter, because of away goals. In a one off game Barca would probably just attack and attack and score four or whatever, but because its knockout based over two-legs they'd be a little more reserved, so you never know. Hold them scoreless tonight (however difficult it may be), then score an away goal over there and you never know.

[maro]

Of course the injuries don't help, but Milan actually match up quite well against Barca. Still, I hope they spank you (in the nicest possible way).

[p_maldini_3]

agreed with tec, over one game i think we'd have a better chance because you can get lucky in one game. but over 2 games, barcelona might just go for the jugular in the return leg.

a 1-1 draw would be ideal, 0-0 even better.

they are missing dani 'the bitch' alves today, so hopefully that helps us.

[RomaShield27]

That should reduced the amount of dives tonight. But wot aboutz Sergio 'the eyes' Busquets, or Javier 'the mule' Mascherano? Is they playin?

[red]

Good performance from Milan.

Kept things nice and compact and did a good job of selecting when to press and when to drop deep.

Made the right call in ignoring Alves to focus on blocking up the middle of the park. With Barca's midget team, there isn't exactly much danger from them getting it wide and crossing anyway.

Also did well to push Ambrosini up, rather than him sitting deep in front of the defence, with a CB then stepping up to fill the gap at DM. With Barca playing with one forward (at most) there really is no need to keep a full back four in a traditional position and shape as it will only lead to you being more heavily outnumbered somewhere else on the pitch.

They should have been more willing to play long to Ibrahimovic in the second half when they started to tire, as that was the only way they could work the ball forward.

That was probably the best game Ambrosini has played in years, even if he was so tired in the last 20 mins that he could barely stand up, never mind run.

Robinho should be publicly flogged.

Still can't see Milan going through.

[vtec]

agree with all points, i think.

very proud of the boys tonight. they turned a deadly two-legged tie into a one-off game in which anything can happen. we played the best team in the world and survived -- even being the better team in the second half. with the exception of robinho, they all played their butts off. in particular, abbiati, antonini, bonera, nesta, ambrosini, mexes, nocerino, and let's not forget seedorf, played like lions.

[p_maldini_3]

this was probably the first time in 3 years where i was proud to have ambrosini as the captain of this club.

[RomaShield27]

Yeh Ambrosini had a great game, he really got in the face of Barca and looked to close Messi in particular down as soon as he got on the ball. He didnt' make to many fuck ups, either. In fact, I don't remember him playing that good all season – I doubt he has?

They did a great team job in defending against them. You weren't all out defence, but mixed it up a bit. The pressing right at the start showed that you can get in their face and stop them from playing before they begin a move, but of course its hard to keep that level of intensity up. Then you mixed it up well with pressing and with committing bodies deep and flooding the danger area in your third of the pitch and closing them down well. The workrate and energy levels that you managed to maintain right to the end was impressive as well, i was sure you were bound to get tired and make a few costly mistakes (although Barca also looked content with the draw and weren't going all out for the jugular like they usually do).

Thats all you can really do against this Barcelona team, other than completely park bus like Mourninho's Inter, or else try play match them head on in a game of football, but ManPoo United will tell ya all about how that turns out.

Its all about the away goals in these type of knock-out affairs. Barca are in the driving seat playing at home next, but you still have a good shot. One away goal.

[RomaShield27]

And nice choreography:

[vtec]

the ref was very lenient with ambro, and certainly a not unwarranted second yellow would have us singing a completely different song today, but he did do well to shut down the goat.

also, i hope we will not be sanctioned for the laser pen.

[p_maldini_3]

now the question is how to pull a result. robinho is incredibly ineffective against barcelona, we would need a player that can make runs beyond the D line, that would be el sharaawy. but it would be ballsy by allegri to start him, he deserves it though, he showed plenty of hustle when he came on.

[RomaShield27]

Will Pato be available? (probably not, he's always crocked). If so his pace and ability to run in behind them like he did in the group game could be key.

[p_maldini_3]

there might be a chance he'll be back from the states, but i wouldn't bank on it.

[red]

[red]

And I don't see what ground Barca have for moaning about the pitch.

Didn't look too bad to me.

[vtec]

i thought the pitch was pretty bad as a lot of the players were slipping, but it was mostly our players. besides, it was good enough for the game to go on; the pitch doesn't have to be perfect, so barca can go get fucked.