The first legs of the Champions League second round have now all been completed and strong favourites, Barcelona, have it all to do in Camp Nou. They travelled to Milan and the red and blacks produced a masterclass in how to keep Barcelona at bay. The Italian giants managed to take the opening leg 2-0 with a bit of help from Portsmouth, their first win over the Spaniards since 2004. Galatasaray hosted Schalke in the other leg on the night and it becomes another gripping tie that has it all to play for going back to Germany. Schalke managed to crucially score an away goal in their 1-1 draw.
It was very unsurprising to see Barcelona have 66% possession during the match but the first half saw Milan look the more threatening without either keeper being tested. Milan were extremely quick throughout the natch to close down the Barca attackers and leave as little space as possible. Unlike other teams, Milan managed to stick to this task for most of the game which left Lionel Messi and the like look rather average and somewhat ineffective.
The first half was a very chess like affair but the second half saw Milan become more attacking with Stephan El Shaarawy looking extremely dangerous and Kevin-Prince Boateng being a nuisance as usual. Massimo Ambrosini and Sulley Muntari provided the guard in the midfield battle as well as the creative flair to begin counter attacks.
The deadlock was finally broken 12-minutes into the second half when a blocked free-kick ended up bouncing off a Milan head, which did initially look like a hand much to Barcelona's claims, before former Portsmouth player Boateng smashed his half-volley magnificently into the bottom corner.
Many felt that this goal against Barcelona would give the Spaniards the impetus to begin to attack more and actually make Christian Abbiati work. But this didn't happen despite the game becoming a little more open. The leg was virtually sealed nine minutes from time when Milan scored a fantastic team effort. It began with Ambrosini feeding in 18-year old substitute M'Baye Niang, who looked extremely dangerous from the minute he came on. Niang managed to recover from a heavy touch and play the ball across to El Shaarawy. El Shaarawy then chipped the ball over a defender for the on-running Muntari, also formerly of Portsmouth, to beautifully volley home for a goal that Barcelona would be more than proud of, also Muntari's first Champions League goal.
The tie is definitely nowhere near over as Barcelona could easily score three or at home. But, based on tonight's performance, Milan will definitely have chances to score and find an away goal. If Milan do put in a similar performance to this, we could well see a shock exit for Barcelona.
Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder made their European débuts for Galatasaray who have strengthened in the January transfer window. But it wasn't either who grabbed the headlines for the Turkish side. So far this season, only the Yilmaz brothers have scored in the Champions League. This pattern continued after 12-minutes when Selcuk Inan played the ball through for Burak to slot home his seventh goal of the competition, the first Turkish player in history to record such a feat in the Champions League.
The first half remained very open with Drogba and Yilmaz looking dangerous for Galatasaray and Jefferson Farfan providing the threat for Schalke. The Germans then hit the sucker punch at possibly the best time in the match for them, just before half-time. Farfan took advantage of a mistake and played the ball through for Jermaine Jones to slot home into the empty net.
Sneijder was taken off at half-time after failing to make any real impact on the game and the second half began a lot more cagier than the first. Neither could force an opening and the game remained at 1-1 which just about gives Schalke the advantage going into the second leg.
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