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by Philipina A. Marcelo
"Friday (work) madness" is brewing, so let's make this quick! Therefore, let me say, first of all, that the AC Milan vs. FC Barcelona UEFA Champions League fixture in San Siro earlier this morning (Thursday, Manila time) was a monster of a match - in terms of excitement! It got me spewing early morning coffee at many points as a torrent of yellow cards swept the Italian pitch - defining the mood, speed and INTENSITY of the duel between Zlatan Ibrahimovic's current Club and immediate former Club!
Let me say, second of all, that the Barça away kit was, uhm, so
Four from Barça's three generations of superstars
celebrating Xavi's Messi-assisted goal - such an
awesome sight to behold!pretty (hehe... y'know I need to say that, don't ya?)... uhm, even on Sergio Busquets who usually wears the Barça color with very neutral effect even when his ballhandling, er, ballfooting (huh? hehe...) in Barça's midfield can be extra-ordinary, and especially on Lionel Messi who made the minty cotton candy-ish shirt a total "pop hit" in a classic only-for-the-"big-boys" tumultuous affair of footieful brilliance! Aaawww! :) The kit in question also made Cesc Fàbregas worthy of some pause-and-stare in the midst of all that testosteronic intensity despite Cesc's painful (for us, fans) "hair confusion" phase ( I sure wish that it's just a phase). *sigh* :)
The scoreline, AC Milan 2-3 FC Barcelona, doesn't really sum it all up. The three times that Barça took the lead and the two times the San Siro residents equalized, and all the round leather's close encounters with the net in between, were the big dramas that made the duel between the two giants at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza quite unforgettable... and another day of no-sleep for football fans in this side of the world - but very happy, nevertheless, thank you very much! :)
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It all began with a tackle...
The dogfight on the pitch started with a bold tackle by, ahem,
El Capitan, Puyi, flying
kick con flying curls.who else but Ibra on Barça's captain, Carles Puyol. As Puyi rose from the Italian pitch amidst that mighty roar from the crowd... and under Pep Guardiola's not-so-surprised stare, the Catalan Captain shrugged the Italian dust and signaled the seriousness of the match. Xavi, rising to the challenge, was not content with 'just' playmaking that night. He relentlessly skimmed the peripheries of the midfield, darting past Milanese defenders in unstoppable determination in front via a Messi-created space - on a hunt for a goal. With Thiago Alcántara behind, beside, and around him, more than ably covering the voids he leaves in the midfield as he penetrated the Milanese defense, Spain's most current "century man" flirted with fire, taunting the mighty Milanese defenders every so often as he tried to slot the ball in the Milan goal. And then, at a moment of sheer daring and
Ibra... on the loose, footloose
dangerous.brilliance, the Maestro caught a Messi long-distance volley via a Seydou Keita cross in front of the goal and pressured Mark van Bommel to slot an own goal, putting Barça in front - where they belong! Woohoo!
While Keita tried to put a fence around Ibra all night, the "Tower of Terror" got away from Javier Mascherano at one striking glory point as the Swede chased a Seedorf cross that Puyi failed to intercept, beating Victor Valdes somehow with a fantastic kick-on-the-run that found its way in Valdes's net - an equalizer for Milan! The economy-ravaged, post-Berlusconi Italian crowd roared! Game on!
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Killer kicks, blinding speed, some misses... and yellow cards!
Now that both teams expressed their singular intention of winning the UEFA Champions League Group H top spot via a 1-1 scoreline, they stared one another in the eye coldly in a nerve-wracking intensity, matching each other's kick with a kick, speed por speed... and yellow card por yellow card! But, hey, there wasn't any temper-losing incident from both sides, just a great display of tactical duel - which was an awesome way to play the beautiful game!
Kevin-Prince Boateng, he who
left Victor Valdes breathless.There were heartbreaking misses, such as that Fàbregas uh-oh moment - a waste of Thiago-created brilliant chance - and that Robinho say-what???! wasted chance at the very mouth of the Barça goal, which he sent over the net when he could have just tapped it in nicely in a clinical finish! Oh, well....
Ah, and then there was that Messi "spot blink" (hehe...) that fetched him a yellow card from the amused referee, Wolfgang Stark. :) But, of course, La Pulga completed the opportunity via a Xavi-was-brought-down-on-the-pitch confusing situation with a goal on his second try, putting the Catalans in front once again. And then that awesomeness of an equalizing goal by Kevin-Prince Boateng that left Eric Abidal, Boateng's marksman on Barça's danger zone, speechless... and Victor Valdes shaking his head in disbelief! It left me astounded, too, with a whispered, but full of conviction and sincerity, "dang, awesome"! =)
Just when I was about to declare Boateng's goal as the best in the
Ah, Barça... just oh-awesome!match, Lionel Messi, in his phenomenal brilliance, navigated a crowded Milan danger zone, slipping the ball through with incredible dribbling and speed through the narrow thoroughfare, and found the discretely positioned looking-for-a-kill-like-a-panther Xavi in front of Christian Abbiatti, who rejected a number of Catalan attempts with touches of brilliance of his own. In a split second of breathtaking football - Barça style - Messi laser-pointed the ball to Xavi, and the Maestro slotted the ball with zero hesitation and 100% awesomeness! Dang, too fantastic! Milan didn't have an answer to that, and so the BEST OF EUROPE took the top spot in Group H. Woohoo!
While Massimilliano Allegri and his men competed absolutely
El Maestro, the Man of the Match.fantastic, the well-deserved win went to those who are some notches more brilliant... who ran and attacked relentlessly on the pitch - Barça! :) But all clubs expect that when they find themselves on the same pitch as the Catalans... Europe's best run a lot, they take ball possession to heart in an attacking football strategy that is heavily anchored on tiki-taka, they link up on the pitch like a single body that packs tremendous cohesive force (although lately, they're exhibiting some failure in that division via a Guardiola endless combination "experiments" this season. Ah, but what do you do when you have so much talent in your stable, so much options in front of you? You'd experiment, too, wouldn't you? Dang, I would!). AC Milan went into the match with the right game plan, the right attitude, and the right execution with incredible football artistry, too. But in a duel of absolute brilliance, played in good spirits and sportsmanship, the better team emerges victorious! Visca, El Barça! :)
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Photo credits: All photos were grabbed from the Zimbio website - thanks.
Video credit: Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.
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