Matchday Three Milan 20 October 2004 AC MILAN – FC BARCELONA STADIO GIUSEPPE MEAZZA, MILAN WEDNESDAY 20 OCTOBER 2004 at 20.45 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP F, MATCHDAY 3 AC MILAN v FC BARCELONA After the thrilling game against Celtic FC, resolved in AC Milan’s favour by two late goals, UEFA Champions League football returns to San Siro with an exciting clash between two former champions of Europe and the two teams who met in the 1994 final in Athens. Both are among the seven clubs who have opened their campaign with maximum points from two matches and the Group F table might suggest that they hold a comfortable advantage over their adversaries. However, while the two former champions are trying to take points from each other, the other Group F participants will be trying to make up ground and mount a serious challenge to the favourites. The fans are promised two epic confrontations between two of Europe’s most experienced campaigners and this match will be a special occasion for Frank Rijkaard, who after a successful playing career with AC Milan, returns to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza as the head coach of FC Barcelona. Bearing in mind that the two clubs have jointly played 635 European matches and 301 in the continent’s premier competition, it’s surprising that they’ve met only four times and that they had a spell of 30 years from 1959 to 1989 without crossing paths. In the UEFA Champions League, this is only the second time that they have met on a home-and-away basis apart from the 1994 final in Athens, when Fabio Capello’s AC Milan beat Johan Cruyff’s FC Barcelona 4-0. It means that FC Barcelona have made only three visits to AC Milan at San Siro, recording a win, a draw and a defeat. AC Milan have been defeated four times at home by Spanish visitors – by the two clubs from Barcelona and by the two clubs from Galicia. FC Barcelona have a reasonable record in Italy, having won five and drawn six of their 15 games – including the ‘administrative’ victory over S.S. Lazio in 1975. This season, both have taken full points from their opening two games but both have been made to work very hard for the points by Celtic FC and FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Three weeks ago, Carlo Ancelotti’s side needed an 89th-minute goal from Filippo Inzaghi and an added-time third from Andrea Pirlo to seal their 3-1 win over the Scots after Andriy Shevchenko had put them ahead after 8 minutes. The home team had 54% of ball-possession (59% in the first half) and had 13 goal attempts, compared with seven by the visitors. Carlo Ancelotti fielded: Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Pancaro; Gattuso (Rui Costa 87), Seedorf (Ambrosini 77), Pirlo; Kaká, Tomasson (Inzaghi 77); and Shevchenko. The unused subs were Fiori, Costacurta, Kaladze and Crespo. FC Barcelona had a massive 62% share of the ball in their home game against FC Shakhtar Donetsk but found it hard to break down the Ukrainian defence. However, they had 21 goal attempts, compared with five by the visitors. Goals by Deco (15), Ronaldinho (a 64th-minute penalty) and Eto’o (89) gave the Catalans their 3-0 win. Frank Rijkaard fielded: Valdés; Belletti, Puyol, Oleguer (Navarro 90+1), van Bronckhorst; Edmilson, Xavi; Giuly (Larsson 76), Deco (Iniesta 83), Ronaldinho; and Eto’o. The unused subs were Rubén, Gerard, Mora and Peña. UEFA Press Information Matchday Three Milan 20 October 2004 AC MILAN – FC BARCELONA At the following weekend, both were also forced to work hard for three league points against visitors who offered stubborn resistance. Andriy Shevchenko again opened the scoring after 11 minutes, only for Reggina Calcio to follow the Celtic script by equalising after 59 minutes. But this time AC Milan reply was not quite so late, with Kaká scoring after 67 minutes and Shevchenko striking again after 89 minutes to seal a 3-1 win. Carlo Ancelotti fielded (4-3-1-2): Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Kaladze; Gattuso, Pirlo (Brocchi 90), Rui Costa (Seedorf 68); Kaká; Inzaghi (Tomasson 65), Shevchenko. The unused subs were Fiori; Pancaro, Serginho and Crespo. FC Barcelona had to be patient against newly-promoted CD Numancia, who concentrated on defence. Henrik Larsson gave the Catalans a 1-0 win by heading home a corner from the left in the 69th minute. The victory took FC Barcelona to the top of the Spanish league for the first time in three years. However, there was more bad news for Frank Rijkaard. He sent Edmilson on in the second half and saw the Brazilian fall awkwardly on his right leg after only two minutes on the pitch. The result was a cartilage and cruciate ligament injury that will keep him out for six months. He was the third FC Barcelona player to suffer this type of injury in home games. Thiago Motta and Gabri are also sidelined for six months after undergoing cruciate ligament surgery. Reserve goalkeeper Albert Jorquera is also out for another month after undergoing surgery on his right hand. Left-back Sylvinho is likely to be out for another two weeks or so as a result of his knee injury. Against Numancia, Frank Rijkaard fielded: Valdés; Belletti, Márquez (Back after injury), Puyol, van Bronckhorst; Deco, Xavi; Giuly (Iniesta 46), Eto’o (Edmilson 60/Oleguer 64), Ronaldinho; and Larsson. The unused subs were Rubén, Navarro, Peña and Gerard. The squad then disbanded for national team duty, though the most picturesque story involved Samuel Eto’o. He flew to Cameroon to prepare for the World Cup qualifier in Sudan but was taken ill and flown to Paris to be treated for a viral gastroenteritis. From thre he returned to Barcelona but took a break in Majorca where, on Sunday 10 October, he was involved in spectacular car accident while running his partner to the airport. In other words, he didn’t play any football but had a tough time! Andrés Iniesta and Carlos Peña were in action for the Spanish Under-21 side against Belgium and Lithuania (both draws), with Iniesta converting the penalty that eraned them their 1-1 draw in Lithuania. Carles Puyol and Xavi were action for the senior team in Spain’s 2-0 win over Belgium and the 0-0 draw in Lithuania. Ronaldinho played for Brazil in the 5-2 win in Venezuela and the 0-0 home draw with Colombia – as a team-mate of Kaká and Cafú. Henrik Larsson scored one goal for Sweden in the 3-0 victory over Hungary and then hit two more during the 4-1 victory in Iceland. Deco took part in Portugal’s 2-2 draw in Liechtenstein and then contributed one goal to the 7-1 win against Russia. Rafael Márquez was in action for Mexico against St. Vincent and Trinidad & Tobago. Giovanni van Bronckhorst played for the Netherlands during the 3-1 win over Finland. The absences meant that FC Barcelona had to field a reserve side for their exhibition match against Olympique de Marseille in Perpignan on 7. Oleguer and Fernando Navarro were the only members of the first-team squad available. Even so, FC Barcelona earned a creditable 0-0 draw. UEFA Press Information Matchday Three Milan 20 October 2004 AC MILAN – FC BARCELONA Last Saturday, FC Barcelona returned to Spanish league action with very little preparation time for their tough local derby against RCD Espanyol at the Estadi Olímpic. Frank Rijkaard had only 14 members of the first-team squad available, as Gerard needs another week or so to recover from his groin injury and Ludovic Giuly had still not recovered from the muscle injury he had sustained while training with the French national team. All things considered, Frank Rijkaard was happy to emerge from the derby with another 1-0 victory that keeps Barça at the top of the league with a 6-1-0 record from their seven league games. The only goal was scored in the 9th minute, when a long-range shot by Deco deflected off Angel Morales into the roof of the Espanyol net. The FC Barcelona line-up was: Valdés; Belletti, Puyol, Oleguer, van Bronckhorst; Xavi, Márquez, Deco (Messi 82); Larsson, Ronaldinho; and Eto’o (Iniesta 67). The unused subs were Rubén, Peña, Fernando Navarro, Damià and Cristian. As you can see, Mexican central defender Rafael Márquez was drafted into the pivotal midfield position where injuries have left Frank Rijkaard with very few alternatives. “Espanyol did everything they could to make life complicated for us,” he commented afterwards, “and it wasn’t always pretty to watch. But we had the clearer chances and could have scored more goals. Lionel Messi made his first-team debut for the club, having previously taken part only in friendly matches. On the bench, Under-21 international defender Carlos Peña was among the novelties, as were No. 32 Damià – a utility right-back/midfielder – and No. 33 Cristian, who can operate as winger or wide midfielder. Carles Puyol emerged with a knock and didn’t join in the Sunday training session. However, he hopes to be fit for this match. Alessandro Nesta and Gennaro Gattuso played for Italy in Slovenia ten days ago, with Giuseppe Pancaro on the bench. All three played in the 4-3 home win against Belarus. Last Sunday (AC Milan come into this game with one day less than their opponents in terms of recovery time), Carlo Ancelotti’s team travelled to Sardinia and took three points from their visit to Cagliari Calcio.