Champions League: Barcelona shocked as Milan win 2-0

AC Milan took a huge step towards the Champions League quarter-finals after defeating Barcelona 2-0 in their Last 16 tie at the San Siro in Milan on Wednesday. This is only the third time Barcelona have lost this season. The previous two meetings between the teams in the knock-out phase have seen the Spanish giants eliminate the seven-time winners and the result could mean that AC Milan avoid an unwanted hat-trick. AC Milan Massimiliano Allegri got everything right with his tactics on the night as his team managed to shackle Barcelona’s star-studded midfield — and more importantly Lionel Messi — before Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari scored in the second half to spark celebrations across the city. Of the 57 goals Milan have scored this season in all competitions, 42 have now come after half-time. [caption id=“attachment_633659” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Boateng wheels away in celebration after the opening goal. AP[/caption] Barcelona may have been outdone by a gritty group of players, but they can feel aggrieved after the first goal was conceded following what looked like a handball from Cristian Zapata. Daniel Alves had fouled the impressive Stephan El Shaarawy around 35 yards from the goal. The freekick was laid up for Ricardo Montolivo, whose shot struck the arms of Zapata before falling to Boateng — the Ghanaian  then sending a rasping snapshot past Victor Valdes in the 56th minute. However, the second goal was without any doubts. 18-year-old M’baye Niang showed a lovely turn of pace before passing the ball to El Shaarawy. The Italian, who has 17 goals himself this season, lobbed it to an onrushing Muntari for a perfect first time finish — also capping a good show from Ghana on the highest level of European football. More impressive than the movement and high tactics deployed by Allegri was the ability of Milan to cancel out Messi from the game. The World Player of the Year didn’t have much to show for the night — personified by a freekick that went sky-high from about 30 yards out. Along with defensive stalwart Philippe Mexes, left back Kevin Constant needs to be credited for nagging the forward throughout the night — not allowing a single scoring chance to a player who gets on the scoresheet almost every match. Barcelona didn’t create the type of chances they are synonymous with, failing to play their typical probing passes past the tight Italian midfield of Massimo Ambrosini and Montolivo. Carles Puyol, bandaged and bloodied following a challenge with Pazzini could only head wide after conceding the second goal and Andres Iniesta sent a stinging shot past the post. That apart, chances were few and far for the Blaugrana. AC Milan showed tremendous bite in midfield in the first half, not allowing Barcelona to string together an attack which really threatened Christian Abbiati between the sticks. The home team were playing withEl Shaarawy and Pazzini very high up the pitch, often on the shoulder of the last man, and were adjudged offside twice in just the opening 10 minutes. Muntari had the first shot of the match, volleying over from 30 yards out in the 5th minute — but the shot was always rising. Barcelona were trying to use their fullbacks on the overlap, but El Shaarawy’s positioning did not allow Dani Alves the freedom to get forward as much he wanted to, leaving Jordi Alba as the busier man on the left wing. The Spanish international almost made his cross count when he put a low ball in for Pedro, but Mexes was there to clear the danger. The Rossoneri, who collected 17 yellow cards in the Group Stage (the maximum among all teams) were initially finding it hard to deal with Messi’s intricate dribbling, taking the liberty to clip at his heels when they could not stop him more cleanly. Centre-back Mexes found himself in the book after just 25 minutes as the Argentine robbed the Milan defence in their own half. But Milan were ready to take that risk and managed to come unscathed after the first 45 minutes, and could boast of a couple of chances themselves. El Shaarawy’s heavy touch hampered his incoming run from the left wing and his outstretched attempt from a Boateng diagonal missed the ball by a fraction. But probably their closest chance was when Boateng flicked a brilliantly worked corner just outside of the far post — and the winger eventually deserved his goal in the second half. Having been shackled for most part of the game, Messi reacted angrily after being penalised for foul — a show of frustration that the Milan defence must have seen as a sign of their success. But the real success will only come if they make tonight’s result count. The Italians travel to Barcelona for the second leg on 12 March.