Ever since I can remember, I always loved watching football from all around the world, appreciating the skills and different qualities each country’s league brings to the table. From the tight-marking defenses in Italy to the more open English Premiership, and the artistry of La Liga. Having watched 1000’s of games over the years, there are two club sides that have really stuck in the memory bank; the great AC Milan side of late eighties and early 90’s featuring Van Basten, Gullit, Rikaard, etc and Barcelona of the last few years with Leo Messi, Iniesta and Xavi, to name but a few superstars.
Both are, were, fantastic football teams who won multiple European Cups and League titles during this period, and were head and shoulders above any other team who dared challenge them. So, I thought it might be interesting to do player for-player-assessment through both sides to see who would win an imaginary game! Will that be easy? Of course not. To be more specific, and to give me a starting point, I will be comparing the Milan side who thrashed Romanian‘s Steau Bucureşti 4-0 in the 1989 European Cup final to the sublime Barcelona 2011 Champions League side that made mincemeat of a quality Manchester United side. So here goes….
B – Barcelona
M – AC Milan
Goalkeeper- Victor Valdes (B) vs. Giovanni Galli (M) To be honest this is probably one of the weakest links in both sides rosters, but I think Valdes, a Spanish international 10 times, will have to be the keeper in this side as Galli was a good keeper, but not anything to get excited about. Barca 1 – 0 Milan
Right Back- Daniel Alves (B) vs. Mauro Tassoti (M) Both are quality players with Tassoti part of one the best defences ever in club football history. He was a good and a slightly under-rated player who defended well and got forward. But compared to Alves who has 146 Brazilian caps and a master at getting forward with a tremendous engine, and who also passes well and rarely gets beaten by wingers, I must give the edge to him. Barca 2 – 0 Milan
Left Back-Eric Abidal (B) vs. Paulo Maldini (M) Adibal has over 60 caps for France. His technique is very good, gets forward, and is all around quality player. Maldini played for Italy 126 times. He had it all; great desire, an amazing engine, he was a born winner and in my opinion the best left back ever to play the game. Barca 2 – 1 Milan
Centre Back- Gerald Pique (B) vs. Franco Baresi (M) Pique is a big solid centre half who has plenty of ball playing skills, wins headers and is very brave near goal. He has nearly 50 caps for Spain, which shows how much quality he has. Baresi was a great defender for club and country. He would run through a brick wall to win a game. He had everything needed to control a game from the back-end. A very special player, Baresi gets the nod. Barca 2 – 2 Milan
Centre Back- Javier Mascherano (B) vs. Alessandro Costacurta (M) Mascherano is a no frills player either as a holding midfielder or at centre back. He is a true stopper there, positioned to break up attacks and keep it simple. A good player, but not great. Costacurta in my eyes was very under-rated. A top class defender who was part of this great Milan defence, kept it simple and very rarely made a mistake. Therefore, I have to pick him. Barca 2 – 3 Milan
Milan leading 3-2 after defence/keeper have been done. And now the fun starts as we move on to the attacking players.
Midfield- Xavi (B) vs Angelo Colombo (M) Let’s keep this simple; Xavi is a modern game great who has it all while Colombo was just a good player. This is a complete mismatch. Barca 3 – 3 Milan
Midfield – Andres Iniesta (B) vs Carlo Ancelotti (M). Iniesta is part of a great club and country midfield. He has sublime-like passing skills and ability to make this game look extremely easy. Ancelotti was player who let the better technical players play, so again Barca wins this one. Barca 4 – 3 Milan
Midfield- Sergio Busquets (B) vs. Frank Rijkaard (M) Both are truly gifted, and this one is very tough. Both do the unheralded things in football, but I have to just favor the Dutch legend because his ability to do that extra “something”. Barca 4 – 4 Milan
Forward- Pedro (B) vs. Ruud Gullit (M) Pedro has all the skills. He’s quick on the ball and works hard for the team. On the other hand, Gullit was quite simply one of Holland’s best ever players who had his best years at club level for Milan, scoring plenty of important goals. For that reason he gets the nod here. Barca 4 – 5 Milan
Forward-Leo Messi (B) vs. Roberto Donadoni (M) Donadoni was quick had quality on the ball. He was a great crosser and fit the Milan team like a glove. But let’s be honest – Messi is an incredible talent, his legacy as one of the greatest ever players is already guaranteed, so he has to take this match-up every time. Barca 5 – 5 Milan
So we have one pick left its 5-5 at the moment as I thought this would be close but these really are very evenly matched so to the last and my deciding pick:
Forward- David Villa (B) vs. Marco Van Basten (M) Villa has won every trophy that matters for club and country. He is a quality player who scores vital goals. Marco Van Basten was a master centre forward who played very well with his back to goal. A scorer of some truly outstanding strikes at the Euros 88; his volley was, and still is, rated one of the best goals ever. It has to be the Dutch superstar for me. Barca 5 – 6 Milan
So Milan89 defeats Barcelona 2011, 6-5. Personally I think Milan would just shade it 3-2 with Van Basten getting the winner in extra time after an epic battle between two colossuses of the game. This after the game deadlocked at 2-2 after normal time. Of course this is all a fantasy world. Some of you might agree, plenty will disagree, but one thing is for sure is that these two fantastic football teams will long live in the memories of football fans all over the world.
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