Five things we learned from the Champions League

David Shonfield

1. Barcelona are not from another planet, just very very good

On paper it looked as if Milan would struggle to keep Barcelona out, missing Thiago Silva and Ignazio Abate in defence and Mark Van Bommel in midfield. Occasionally they defended too deep, but by standing off and maintaining their shape they generally prevented Barcelona getting in behind them where they could do most damage. Pep Guardiola's caution in persevering with Seydou Keita rather than bringing on Cesc Fabregas also helped the Italian cause. It will be a different match in Camp Nou but this tie is more evenly balanced than most people anticipated.

2. Oldies can rise to the occasion

Massimo Ambrosini, Alessandro Nesta and Clarence Seedorf have a combined age of 107. Ambrosini and Nesta have had chronic injury problems for the past six years, Seedorf has struggled for fitness this season. All three of them are out of contract in the summer, yet all three gave a masterclass in defence against Barcelona, above all Ambrosini, whose covering and lightning reactions prevented an almost certain goal from Leo Messi towards the end.

3. Width matters

Marseille had no answer to Arjen Robben's pace and control, a real Flying Duchman performance. Ten goals in his last seven matches (counting the two against England) show that Robben is again hitting form at just the right time. Fernando Torres also proved the value of pace out wide with the run and cross that created the winner for Chelsea. By contrast Barcelona were surprisingly unable to put Milan under real pressure on the wings. Both Milan fullbacks played their part, but there was also another weak performance from Sanchez, while on the left flank Carles Puyol was mostly covering the middle of the defence with Javier Mascherano pushed forward.

4. Goal-line officials favour defenders

John Terry was fortunate to escape when the ball hit his arm in the Estadio da Luz and two incidents had the Catalan fans screaming for a penalty in the San Siro. In all three cases the referee gave the benefit of the doubt to the defender mainly because there was no reaction from the goal-line officials, who each had a good view. Milan keeper Christian Abbiati definitely brought down Alexis Sanchez, but the official behind the goal evidently believed Sanchez was falling before he was touched.

5. Yellow cards may have a big impact on Bayern's chances

As expected both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are virtually through to their semi-final, but Bayern now have a real headache because six players are one booking away from suspension, including Philipp Lahm, Tony Kroos and Thomas Mueller. With a 2-0 lead against a demoralised Marseille they can probably afford to rest a few (although Bastian Schweinsteiger misses the second leg) but they will then be walking a tightrope in their home game against Madrid.

 

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/UtfBi271djk/post.aspx

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