Riccardo Montolivo revealed Milan studied Barcelona carefully and succeeded in their plan to “make their possession sterile.”
Riccardo Montolivo revealed Milan studied Barcelona carefully and succeeded in their plan to “make their possession sterile.”
The Rossoneri let Barça have the ball, but ensured they rarely got into the final third and struck with Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Ali Muntari to win 2-0.
“It went well and we played the game we had to, as we were prepared for them to keep possession and therefore we shut down the spaces to make it sterile,” Montolivo told Mediaset.
“Clearly we had a bit of luck with the ricochet on the first goal, but the second was a wonderful team move.
“It was a great night and we hope for another one in the second leg.”
Barcelona did not have a single genuine shot on target to trouble goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
“Leo Messi wasn’t having a good night, fortunately, but we hope he won’t be at 100 per cent at the Camp Nou either,” continued Montolivo.
“It’ll probably be the same basic approach, just that Barcelona will attack us with more intensity.
“We’ll have to be very careful and try to be dangerous on the counter-attack, as it’s the only way to face a team like Barcelona.”