Holders Barcelona were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw at AC Milan in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday as the attacking prowess of Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was all but nullified.
Milan succeeded where nine teams before them had failed by preventing Messi from scoring in a game that started brightly, but was ultimately a disappointment.
However, the stalemate sets up an intriguing second leg at the Camp Nou on Tuesday, when a scoring draw for seven-time European champions Milan would put them through.
Photo: AFP
Messi had a 17th-minute effort ruled out for offside and dominant Barca had a strong shout for a penalty when Alexis Sanchez went down, but Milan had chances too, with Robinho hooking over early on and Ibrahimovic wasting an excellent position.
Argentine World Player of the Year Messi was agonizingly close to snatching a late win for the Spaniards when he was blocked at close-range by goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, with Massimo Ambrosini blocking Tello’s effort from the rebound.
Ambrosini typified the defiant attitude of the Italian champions when, having blocked Tello’s effort, he celebrated as if he had scored a championship-winning goal.
Messi had scored 21 goals in his last nine outings for club and country, his extraordinary run including a five-goal haul, one of four goals and two hat-tricks. He has netted a Spanish record of 55 in all competitions this season.
Had he scored on Wednesday, the 24-year-old would have taken his Champions League tally to 13 for the season, a new record.
However, there was no way through a Milan defense superbly held together by Philippe Mexes and 36-year-old Alessandro Nesta, standing in for the injured Thiago Silva.
Allegri had promised that his team would attack Barcelona and not use spoiling tactics, but that is exactly what they did for most of the second half and some of the first.
At one point in the second period, Messi tried one of his trademark runs into the area, but was expertly ushered away by Ambrosini, while tough nut Nesta hauled him down on two occasions.
The game could have turned out very differently if Robinho and Ibrahimovic had taken early chances for the Serie A leaders.
The Brazilian missed a sitter when Ibrahimovic headed the ball to him and he contrived to hook wildly over the bar.
Ibrahimovic was the guilty party shortly afterwards when Clarence Seedorf, a surprise inclusion by Allegri, rolled the ball into his path, but the former Barca frontman shot weakly at Victor Valdes.
Barcelona, who failed to score for only the fourth time this season, were already getting into their stride and stringing together some of their trademark passing moves.
They had a penalty claim turned down when Sanchez appeared to be tripped by Christian Abbiati, before Messi had a goal rightly disallowed for offside.
Xavi and Sanchez sliced the Milan defense apart with a delightful one-two which ended with Abbiati just managing to push the Spain midfielder’s shot away.
Milan’s stout defense was symbolized by leftback Luca Antonini producing a superb last-ditch tackle to stop Sanchez firing on goal, as Barca resembled the home side for long spells.
Iniesta began the second half with a run and shot which just went wide and after that the defenses prevailed, until a lively last few minutes which Milan were relieved to come through.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had few complaints, except a pitch where large lumps of turf kept coming out.
“If UEFA want teams to put on a spectacle, they have to overcome problems like this,” he said.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS