views
Barcelona: Facing FC Barcelona at home and a goal down from the first leg, AC Milan on Wednesday has its work cut out to make the Champions League final.
Barcelona, who have won the prized European title just once, need only a draw with six-time winner AC Milan to reach a fifth Champions League final.
Qualifying on Wednesday would leave
Frank Rijkaard's side close to repeating one of the greatest achievements in the club's 106-year history; the Spanish and European double.
Already virtually certain of retaining its Spanish league title, Barcelona seeks to emulate the 1992 triumph when it beat Sampdoria 1-0 at Wembley and finished a point ahead of Real Madrid to win the domestic league.
Barcelona's 1-0 victory in the semifinal first leg at Milan's San Siro stadium has boosted its chances of reaching the May 17 final in Paris against Arsenal or Villarreal.
"It'll be a great game between two great teams," Rijkaard said. "Everyone knows Milan is coming to give it everything and to beat us out of the tournament. But we're going for it too."
Barcelona and Brazil forward Ronaldinho predicted a tougher match than in the first leg.
"We'll have to play with a lot of intelligence and forget about the result of the first match," he said. "It will be more difficult and we will have to maintain full concentration."
A Barcelona victory would avenge the 4-0 loss to the Italian team in the 1994 Champions League final.
"It's a chance for Barcelona to make history and demonstrate that it is one of the great clubs." said Ronaldinho.
"We have to make our history and forget what happened in the past."
Barcelona and Milan have played each other 10 times and have an identical record: both have won four games with two drawn and have scored and conceded 14 goals.
PAGE_BREAK
"We're heading for our third final in four years and we want to do our very best to not let that go," Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, who was voted out as Italy's prime minister last week, and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, a Barcelona fan, will attend the game, newspaper la Vanguardia reported.
Milan, which is pressing Juventus for the Italian title, has injury worries ahead of the game, which will attract a 98,000-capacity crowd.
Captain Paolo Maldini, Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka, Cafu and Alessandro Nesta are all fighting to overcome injuries. Nesta is the most doubtful. Massimo Ambrosini is definitely out.
Shevchenko said he was ready to play.
"You can't miss this match even if you're limping," said the Ukrainian striker. "We must play well, with no hurry. Scoring chances will come and we must be prepared to take them."
Striker Filippo Inzaghi, who has scored five goals in the Champions League and 10 in Serie A this season, has recovered from the virus that forced him to miss the first leg.
Barcelona will be without injured forward Lionel Messi, suspended defender Oleguer Presas and long-term casualty Xavi Hernandez.
The team will welcome back key midfielder Deco, who missed the first game through suspension.
"We have to play with the same attitude and strength as we did in San Siro. Milan is a very dangerous team," said Deco, who won the Champions League with Porto in 2004.
Milan has four players, defenders Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta, midfielder Genaro Gattuso and Inzaghi going into the game with yellow cards, meaning they would miss the next match if they earn another one.
Defenders Carles Puyol, Rafael Marquez and midfielder Mark van Bommel from Barcelona are facing a similar fate.
Comments
0 comment