Yet again, football fans will be treated to another classic European football experience tonight as the Rossoneri will face the toughest test of their season so far in the lair of the champions, FC Barcelona. Both AC Milan and Barca have already met thrice in the season so far and have drawn two out of the three games indicating just how tough it is to get past each other. Tonight,on their fourth and most crucial confrontation of the season, the Spanish and Italian champions will be boosted with two men coming back from injury for their respective sides and just might end up providing the edge to what is already looking like another tight-rope contest on the outset. FC Barcelona will more than gladly relish the comeback of Cesc Fabregas after a lower-back injury had seen the former Arsenal captain miss the first leg at the San Siro. On the other hand, Milan have received a massive boost with the return of Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato who will surely replace his misfiring national teammate, Robinho. Given the quality of both the players, I wouldn’t bet against them not making the final difference in tonight’s spectacle. So,without much further ado,let’s take a look what both players will have to offer for their respective teams in ‘Il Clasico’(‘Il’ is Italian for ‘El’)-
Cesc Fabregas (FC Barcelona)-
-Additional Attacking Outlet
AC Milan’s dogged defence clearly made Barca run out of ideas at the San Siro in the first quarter-final leg with nothing seeming to be working for them on that disappointing night. Milan will surely look to approach tonight’s game with a similar attitude and the Catalans will once again have to break through Milan’s ‘catenaccio’ (closed door). Fabregas will provide an additional attacking threat to harass the Milanese defenders and spread them out wide to create loopholes in the center of the field. Also, Guardiola will mostly employ him in that ‘false 9′ position which has added a whole new dimension to Cesc’s game. He has become a prolific goal-scorer as his smart footballing brain has enabled him to be in the right place at the right time on numerous occasions this season. The positional interchanging that Fabregas will carry about all over the pitch throughout the course of the 90 minutes will give Nesta and co. a lot to think about.
-Playmaking
Along with his goal-scoring instincts, Fabregas will also do what he does best, provide sublime assists. He is a natural play-maker and can bamboozle any defence with a simple through-ball or chip. He has formed a devastating partnership with Messi this season with both providing each other countless number of times making the Blaugrana a much-more ruthless, goal-scoring machine than what they already are. His vision is exemplary and sometimes he appears wittier than even Xavi or Iniesta.
-Winning Back The Ball
Not many would know that Fabregas started his football career as a central defensive midfielder, a role which Sergio Busquets plays. Arsene Wenger was the one who transformed Cesc’s game at Arsenal making him an attacking midfielder. Thus, one would notice the kind of efficiency that Fabregas displays when winning back the ball to retain possession. This is another side to his game which will prove to be the most crucial when facing a side like Milan. Though he is exceptional in keeping the ball, he will have to react quickly in winning back the ball to break Rossoneri counter-attacks.
-Past Experience
Cesc Fabregas has very happy memories of his exploits against AC Milan in the round of 16 of the 2007/08 CL campaign as an Arsenal player as he scored a magnificent late opener to send Milan packing. The Catalans will look towards him to provide the knockout blow if the going gets tough, like he did for the Gunners back then.
Alexandre Pato (AC Milan)-
-Raw Pace
Alexandre Pato has terrorized many a defence with his sheer agility and pace. The Brazilian shocked the Camp Nou with a stunning 21 second opening goal in the 2-2 group stage draw against Guardiola’s men earlier this season. He left the Catalan defence completely perplexed with his burst of pace before scoring that goal and always looked dangerous on the ball throughout the match. He will surely give Barca’s defenders a lot to think about as pace seems to be their susceptibility. He can unsettle Puyol and Co. in a matter of seconds before rattling the back of the net or even better, provide Ibrahimovic and let ‘El Zlat’ do the rest.
-Clinical Finishing
Anybody will agree that Pato is much more efficient in converting opportunities into goals than Robinho. The Milan fans were left fuming at the San Siro when Robinho missed a glaring opportunity in the opening moments of the first leg that could have been decisive in the tie. The Rossoneri faithful will surely not tolerate any more goof-ups like these especially with a scoring draw being all that is required to send Allegri’s men through to the semis. Pato has done it earlier at the Camp Nou and will surely be needed to replicate his CL season-opening game performance.
-Positive Approach
A positive-minded forward like Pato can surely inspire other attacking players in the Milan ranks to press higher up the pitch rather than sit back and defend and take the game to Barca. If he scores tonight, it will give Milan a shot in the arm that they were looking for! Also, it will ease the pressure on the defenders.
It will be interesting to see who delivers the knockout blow in the end. Irrespective of that, lets hope for a cracker of a game tonight!