Barcelona Lost against Milan: The Defeat Threatens to Leave the Team out of the Cup

Day News

February 22, 2013

Barcelona lost against Milan 2-0 in San Siro. With this defeat, the Barcelona team accumulates a total of ten consecutive matches in which they have conceded at least one goal to the opponent. Such a poor performance has not been seen since 1998, when the team conceded goals in eleven consecutive matches. According to new statistics, Barcelona kept 11 clean sheets in 40 games this season (27.5%) , whereas last season it kept 32 clean sheets in 64 games (50%). The percentages clearly show worsening results, which
Last match, Barcelona failed to create any scoring situations, and shot on target only twice in the entire game. The two goals from Milan, scored by Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari, are evidence of Barcelona’s weak defence, which had not been a problem in other seasons’ matches.
For the return game, which is taking place in Camp Nou, Barcelona will have to play at their best if they want to beat Milan and still be in the running towards becoming the best European football club this year, an award they have already received on five different occasions. The news is that Barcelona’s defender Eric Abidal is ready to resume his playing career after undergoing a liver transplant which left him on the sidelines for almost a year. The French defender has not played for Barcelona since 02/26/2012, but he has been training with the rest of the team since December.
After the defensive problems that the team showed during the last match, maybe Abidal will come back to Barcelona with a solution. The mood of the team will certainly be changing after this piece of news, which Barcelona’s midfielder Xavi described as “the best news of the year.” Barcelona’s captain Carles Puyol, on his part, has stated: “with him we are stronger”.

Barcelona vs. Milan: Next Round

The next match is being played on Tuesday 03/12/2013 in Barcelona, at 02.45 p.m. EST. Milan should probably focus on staying tactically flawless as they did last match and, as usual, keeping an eye on Lionel Messi, who has already scored 46 goals this season. Barcelona, on the other hand, should probably work on improving their defence. Maybe having Eric Abidal back in the team will do the trick; sometimes all it takes to win a match is a team in the right mood.