San Siro succumbs to Barca magic

AC Milan witnessed an impressive Barca team last night at the San Siro stadium in Milan. The match finished 2-3 and was full of thrills and spills. Goals came from a Leo Messi  penalty,  an own goal from former Barca man Mark Van Bommel and one from a brilliant Xavi who dazzled the Italians with his majestic play.

Barcelona dazzled as they beat AC Milan 3-2 at the San Siro here on Wednesday night to ensure top spot in Champions League Group H.
An own goal from former Barca player Mark van Bommel, a Lionel Messi penalty and Xavi gave the title holders victory in a thrilling game.
Although largely outplayed Milan, who were already guaranteed second place in the group, fought gamely and replied through another former Barcelona player Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a wonderful goal from Kevin-Prince Boateng.
But the Spaniards left no doubt as to who the better team was with a scintillating performance full of verve, quick passing, incision and energy.
Goalscorer Boateng felt his team had more than matched Barca.
“It was a good game, we were unlucky but the most important thing is that we’ve qualified,” he said.
“Barcelona are the best team in the world but we played really well and when everyone’s concentrating we can match anyone.”
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri felt this was a good learning curve for his players.
“It was important to play a match such as this to see what stage we’re at,” he said.
Barca gave an early sign of things to come as Thiago Alcantara stepped over a Messi pass to free David Villa but the Spain striker’s finish was woefully high.
The visitors took the lead on 14 minutes as they strung the passes together again and Messi found Seydou Keita in acres of space on the left side of the area with his devilish cross into the six-yard box being turned in by the unfortunate Van Bommel.
Another great move saw Thiago’s flick put in Cesc Fabregas, whose powerful shot hit goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
Milan should have been level when a cross from Ibrahimovic found Boateng at the back post and his mishit shot fell to Robinho inside the six-yard box but the Brazilian embarrassingly lifted the ball over the bar.Read the rest here at football.co.uk.

So there we have it, a majestic game by a brilliant Barcelona FC to seal the top slot ahead of an impressive AC Milan.Check out the video below to see Messi’s penalty retake. The ref ordered the penalty to be retaken as Messi ran up to the ball, feigned a shot and then stuck the ball in the net to the keeper’s right. I think if a player feigns a shot, he has to do it all in one movement otherwise he risks having to take the penalty again.

About Barca Blogger

My name's Steve aka Barca Blogger and one of the founding members of the team at Barcelonafcblog.com. I've been around since the blog started and we aim to bring you the most up to date information on this great club.