Milan Vs Barcelona, 2012 UEFA Champions League quarter finals 1st leg saw a thrilling and intense clash as Milan defended his goal valiantly while attacking Barcelona’s dangerously at times. The only thing lacking was goals.

Milan / NationalTurk – Milan is going to enter the Barcelona’s temple Camp Nou still as underdogs, however they showed vs Barcelona they are a thuogh nut to crack and defended well to deny Barcelona an away goal and kept their hopes alive towards advancing to the UEFA Champions League 2012 semifinals. Milan couldn’t create a goal themselves, but they defended brilliantly vs Barcelona to hold on for a 0-0 draw.

Milan vs Barcelona : The first half promised goals, lots of them

The first half of Milan vs Barcelona clash was a bit more eventful than the second, with Milan creating more chances than Barcelona to score. Milan’s Robinho had a terrible miss in the 2nd minute of Milan vs Barcelona match with a shanked volley, while Barcelona outcast Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a mess of a clear chance in the 20th minute for Milan. Barcelona had its share of a couple of great opportunities, but good goalkeeping by Milan goalie Christian Abbiati kept visiting Barcelona off the scoreboard, along with one spectacular clearance by Milan defender Luca Antonini on a 35th minute Alexis Sanchez breakaway.

Milan vs Barcelona : The second half started not well for valiant Milan

The second half of Milan vs Barcelona clash got off to a bad start for Milan, as Robinho picked up an injury in a challenge with Javier Mascherano in the 51st minute. Although he came back onto the pitch after a short treatment, attempted to run it off, but his injury forced him to an early exit. Stephan El Shaarawy came on to replace Robinho.

Milan had an excellent spell of possession in the 57th minute of the game and looked like they were going to at least challenge Victor Valdes seriously, but no one was able to pull the trigger for Milan. Both Andres Nocerino and Ibrahimovic had great shooting opportunities, but opted to pass when they should have shot. Barcelona eventually won the ball back and sent Lionel Messi out on the counter. Alessandro Nesta stopped him from getting into a shooting position the only way he knew how. The look on Nesta’s face after he had fouled the zippy Messy showed something between disbelief, admiration and frustation.

Milan vs Barcelona 2012 Video : Watch how Milan stopped Messi

[media id=501 width=610 height=340]

In the 66th minute of Milan vs Barcelona face-off, Urby Emmanuelson came on for a fatigued-looking and uneffective Kevin-Prince Boateng. It took just one minute for him to absolutely blow a golden chance, a clear indication he is far from ready to challenge any other Milan players for the starting elf. An effective playing Ibrahimovic played him through on goal with a stunning through ball, but Emmanuelson somehow took a touch away from the Milan’s goal that instantly took away a shooting chance, even though he was clearly one-on-one with Valdes. It was a touch almost too shameful to be believed.

Milan, an aging squad nevertheless had to take off Nesta in the 74th minute, who was limping noticeably. With no true central defenders on the bench, every Milan fan at San Siro watched in horror as Djamel Mesbah — the scapegoat of the 3-0 debacle to Arsenal — came on to the pitch. Daniele Bonera moved to the center of defense and Luca Antonini moved to right back position.

While Djamel Mesbah didn’t exactly do anything to improve his notorious reputation, Antonini’s move to right back turned out to be crucial. In the 87th minute, he made a fantastic clearance, denying Cristian Tello what would have been a game-winning goal for Barcelona.

Barcelona vs Milan : The second leg in 6 days

The goalless Milan vs Barcelona game is the first time in nine games in all competitions that high-flying Lionel Messi has failed to score, and it is the first time in Pep Guardiola’s tenure as Barcelona coach that he has failed to get an away goal in a Champions League knockout stage tie.

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola had few complaints after Milan vs Barcelona clash, except a pitch where large lumps of turf kept coming out.

‘ If UEFA want teams to put on a spectacle, they have to overcome problems like this,’ Guardiola stated. ‘ The fact that Milan are happy with a 0-0 draw is a big compliment for us. ‘ the Barca manager added.

However, the stalemate sets up an intriguing Barcelona vs Milan second leg at the Nou Camp next Tuesday when a scoring draw for seven-times European champions Milan would put them through and eliminate the defending champions.

[adrotate banner=”31″]