21/12/2012

The Duellists is the title of an old movie from Ridley Scott, set during the Napoleonic Age, in which two officiers cross swords time and time again, alternatively gaining partial victories, without ever being able to end their rivalry once and for all. It is, after all, a good metaphore for Milan-Barcelona, an infinite challenge. We will see what happens in this season, but whatever the outcome, it can't be final, as there will surely be other challenges in the future.

Anyway, this year's confrontation is not as reminiscent of last year's as it may look.
This year, Milan is even more of an underdog, even more unfavored by forecast than it was last year. Our team is technically poorer, while Barcelona is a team which looks more and more mature and confident and that has effectively already assured itself another victory in the Liga, also for the poor season which has befallen Real Madrid, lost between internal struggling and Mourinho's hysteria. They got an incredibly prolific goal scorer like Messi and a style of play which is even more incisive, with less horizontal possession, making more use of the flanks and less of short passing in the centre, shown by the constant presence on the field of 4 "real" wing players. All of this, still retaining their old quickness in ball-circulation and the aggression against the ball holder in the opponents' defensive zone.
Milan, on the other hand, is left without real leaders on the pitch, having lost charismatic players like Nesta, Seedorf and Ibrahimovic. However, we have changed our style of play, which is not almost the exact opposite of Barca's, we have more technical players on the flanks, both in defensive and attacking positions, and, for the first time, a team that can survive the impact of a fast-paced game without having to distort its usual game, although - sadly - not for an entire match.
This season's games against Juventus (the one that we won, and the ones we will play soon in the Coppa Italia) are going to be useful tests to understand how we can fare against Barcelona, as Turin's side has a play style that's close to Villanova's Barca, with the only real differences being the "density" in midfield (which, for Barca, depends on wether Iniesta is playing in the midfield 3 or in a more attacking position) and, of course, Messi, who's playing a lot more in the centre compared to the past, thus scoring more goals, but also being more vulnerable to the "attentions" of the opposing central defenders.
Not knowing what the transfer market may bring in January, our weapon, as of now, has to be our newfound strenght on the wings, the capability of our wingers to play behind the backs of Alba and Alves, the only play solution against which Barcellona has no defense. Last year, we only did that occasionaly (the goal by Ibrahimovic, precisely against Barca, in the group stage was an example), while now this is is a regular part of our play style, something we actively look for, and that makes Milan look more like a nordic team than a latin one, which we could use to our advantage. Especially because Barcelona's full-backs seem to be easily distracted, a fact corroborated by the many goals conceded by Barca this year, unusual for a team of that quality.
It's the one thing we can hope for if we want to make the impossible possible.

Bunkerman

21/12/2012