Barcelona is going to face AC Milan at Nu Camp in the 2nd leg of Champions League round of 16.

        It’s going to be a litmus test for Barcelona at their home Nu-Camp against the Italian power house ACMilan in their second leg tie of UEFA Champions League tonight following their 0-2 first leg defeat at San Siro.

         If the semifinalist of last year Catalan giant Barcelona side wants to remain in that tournament & wants to go through in the quarter stage then they have to overturn their first leg 0-2 away defeat against the mighty rival AC Milan, in the another hand the task is far easier for the visitors only a goalless draw or even a 1-0 defeat will also guide them towards the next stage.

        Since last few days we have seen that Barca has lost 3 out of their 4 encounters against 2 real heavy weights. They have lost their Champions League outing against the same side, back to back lost twice against their archrival Real Madrid, once in Copa-Del-Ray first leg semis & once in the second leg of La-Liga encounter. However they recovered & back to the winning note by beating Spanish counterpart Deportivo la Coruna in their La Liga encounter. Messi has created an magnificent record of scoring goals in back to back 17 matches. Currently Barcelona is leading the table & stretched their lead to 14 points ahead of the runners in La Liga.

         Meanwhile AC Milan has played 3 Serie A games after their winning encounter with Barcelona, they made a goalless draw with archrival Inter Milan, hammered Lazio by 3-0 margin & edge past Genoa by 2-0 margin in their last Seria A encounter.

         However, the Rossoneri  will be without striker Giampaolo Pazzini who suffered a micro-fracture to his right fibula in the Genoa game after opening the scoring for his side while Barca is going to get complete fit Xavi in their first eleven.

        The Rossoneri were technically perfect in their defensive stand against Barca in the opening leg, with the defense and midfield allowing few holes. They shut Xavi out of the game with a man-marking system, and in doing so, eliminated good access for Lionel Messi.
       Milan were also deadly on the counterattack, with Stephan El Shaarawy proving to be a genuine threat down the left-hand side all night long. Granted he was at times wasteful, but he continued to get after the Blaugrana, and cause problems for their defense.
        For Barca, the biggest key heading into the return fixture—which they didn't do in the first leg—is to hit the byline as often as they can. By stretching the Italian's defense, they will allow more space in behind, as well as space on top of the box, for Messi and company to capitalize on.

        Currently interim coach Jordi Roura, deputizing Barca side while Tito Vilanova undergoes cancer treatment, warned his men are up for the challenge against Milan while Milan boss Massimilano Allegri will bank on his defensive formation.

     Lots of things would be proved here, peoples are going to watch that if it is going to be the demise of tiki-taka concept in football or not, if they want to prove here then they have to breakthrough one of the best composed & committed defence in this world.

Statistics between Catalan giant Barcelona & Italian power house AC Milan.

          Prior to today’s match Barcelona & AC Milan clashed 16 times between them, 14times in UEFA Champions League or formerly known as European Cup & twice in the both legs of the final of 1989 UEFA Super Cup, 7 in Nu-Camp, 7 in San Siro & 1 in neutral venue at Olympic Stadium, Athens during 1994 UEFA Champions League final.

          Barcelona has won 6 of them, AC Milan has won also 6 times while 4 of them finished in a stalemate.

         Overall they met 13 times in Champions League, they clashed once in the Champions League final of 1993-94 where AC Milan won the triumph by thumping Barcelona by a clear 4-0 margin.

        First time they met in the round of 16 stage or Champions League on 1959-60, Barcelona won that by 7-1 aggregate, first leg at San Siro by 2-0 margin & second leg at Nu-Camp by 5-1 margin.

         Second time they met in the final of 1989 UEFA Super Cup where AC Milan bagged the crown by 2-1 aggregate, first leg at Nu-Camp ended in an 1 all stalemate & AC Milan won the second leg at San Siro by 1-0 margin.

        In the next encounter AC Milan won the 1993 Champions League final hammering Barcelona by 4-0 margin.

        Fourth time they met on 2000-01 in the preliminary group stage of the Champions League, AC Milan won this time by 5-3 aggregate, first leg they won by 2-0 margin at Nu-Camp while the second leg in San Siro ended in a 3 all stalemate.

        Fifth time they met on 2004-05 in the group stage of the Champions League, this time AC Milan won by aggregate on behalf of their one away goal, AC Milan won the first leg at San Siro by 1-0 margin while Barcelona won the second leg at Nu-Camp by 2-1 margin.

        Sixth time they met in the semi finals stage of 2005-06 Champions League which was won by Barcelona by 1-0 aggregate, Barcelona won the first leg at San Siro by 1-0 margin while the second leg at Nu-Camp finished in a goalless stalemate.

         Seventh time they met in the group stage of the 2011-12 Champions League, this time Barcelona won by 5-4 in aggregate, first leg at Nu-Camp ended in a 2 all stalemate while Barcelona won the second leg at San Siro by 3-2 margin.

         In the same edition of 2011-12 Champions League they met once again in the quarter stage of  which was once again won by Barcelona by 3-1 margin, first leg at San Siro ended in a goalless stalemate while Barcelona won by 3-1 margin at Nu-Camp.

         Lasttime they met on 20^th Feb 2013 in the first leg which was won by Milan by 2-0 margin.

        Whether record is concern AC Milan is the second successful team after Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League formerly known as European cup, AC Milan have won it seven times in 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003 & 2007. Only Real Madrid, with nine triumphs, have won it more times than AC Milan.

        In the other hand Barcelona have won the competition four times in 1992, 2006, 2009 & 2011.

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