AC Milan 1-1 Barcelona : Five talking points

Lionel Messi scored again in his first start for Barcelona since returning from injury, but AC Milan put up a good defensive show to hold the Catalans and earn a point at the San Siro.

Here are the five talking points from the game:

Messi might well catch Raul’s record before the end of the season

Lionel Messi fights for the ball against Sulley Muntari during last night’s match between AC Milan and Barcelona at the San Siro

At his current goal scoring rate, barring any major injuries, Messi might well end his career as the greatest goal scorer of his generation, or any generation for that matter. Whilst there were doubts about whether he would play in the game against Milan or not, he did eventually start and ended up playing a starring role in the game.

He scored Barcelona’s equalizer, which moved him into fourth place on the list of all-time leading Champions League goal scorers. With a hat-trick in his bag already and Raul only at 71 goals, it is not completely inconceivable that Messi breaks that record before the end of the current campaign. If that is to happen, Barcelona have to go a long way in the competition and that is certainly possible.

Kaka looks a player reborn

Kaka controls the ball during the Champion’s League football match between AC Milan and FC Barcelona last night

There were times during his time at Real Madrid, when it looked as though that assuredness of touch and that little bit of magic deserted him. Although he left Milan for Madrid as a happy camper, he never really got going in Madrid. He was lost amongst a galaxy of stars and although he played well, injuries meant that he could never quite recapture the form that made the world record transfer at the time.

Now, back at Milan, Kaka looks a player reborn. That little bit of oomph is back in his play. There were moments in the first half, when he looked like the Kaka of old, beating players for fun and passing them like they didn’t exist. And whilst it’ll be difficult for him to replicate his form in his first stint with Milan, he might well be the spark that Milan were craving for.

Barcelona were wasteful in front of goal

The trio of Andres Iniesta, Neymar and Lionel Messi spurned quite a few chances

For the amount of possession that they enjoyed and the sheer amount of chances that they created, Barcelona should surely have scored more goals. The lack of a genuine center forward is slowly starting to hurt Barca. They have so much quality in the middle of park that if they only had a proper finisher, they would have easily killed the game off.

Although Milan were resolute in defense, there were plenty of chances that were created and all of them were wasted by some poor finishing. Their crossing too wasn’t the best and those are two areas that Barca have to improve upon if they are to stand any chance of winning the Champions League this time around.

Milan were solid at the back

The Milan defence and midfield did a good job marking Messi and co.

They say good attacks win you matches and good defenses win you championships. If Milan maintain the same kind of defensive solidity that they did against Barcelona, they might turn out to be dark horses in the Champions League. And with Robinho, Kaka and Balotelli in attack, anything is possible.

Right from the first whistle, Milan showed Barcelona that they were in for a scrap. At times, they had 10 men behinf the ball. Both center halves, Zapata and Mexes had tremendous games and barring a lapse in concentration that led to Messi’s equalizer, Milan were rock solid in defense. The left back Constant in particular, was a constant menace and let nothing pass and beautifully neutralized the attacking threat of not just Messi, but Dani Alves as well.

Milan’s judicious attacking play pays dividends

AC Milan rarely ventured forward, but when they did made good forays

There is an old football cliché that the best form of defense is attack and Milan almost proved that against Barcelona. Although they defended as if their lives depended on it, their judicious attacking play was what got them the point against Barcelona. And on another day, it might just have gotten them all three points.

With a solid platform from defense, Milan attacked with purpose and every time they went forward, they looked sharp. They had quite a high percentage of chances, with respect to their possession and might even have won it, had Robinho or Muntari managed to put on their shooting boots in the second half. But, nonetheless, the addition of Balotelli in the second half certainly lifted their spirits and the game looked stretched and the longer it went on, the more it felt as though Milan might well win it.