While Barcelona remains one of the hottest soccer clubs on the planet, their upcoming opponents have not been able to maintain any positive momentum throughout the season. Currently sitting eleventh in the 20-club Italian Serie A, AC Milan hopes their international struggles are nearing an end as they prepare to take on Lionel Messi and a slew Barcelona talent in the UEFA Champions League. Though they've only been able to accumulate 12 points through 10 league matches, Milan has been relatively successful in Group H of the UCL.
Thanks to earning a 1-1 draw with group opponent Barca on October 22, the Red and Black are only two points behind first place Barcelona with multiple matches still to be played in the first phase. Though it's nice to be within striking distance of the upcoming opponent, Milan's manager knows his team needs to turn their recent misfortunes around as they'll enter the contest off a 2-0 loss to Fiorentina, the team's fifth defeat of the season, a loss that now has their head coach searching for anything positive.
"This is the most difficult situation I've faced in my three-and-a-half years at Milan," coach Massimiliano Allegri said. "I'm responsible for everything. We cannot play as bad as we did against Fiorentina. We need to come out of this ugly situation. In football, results count and we have a week to put things right, starting with the game at Barcelona. One thing is clear, we need to give much more because what we've done so far, is simply not enough."
With two games remaining in the first phase, Barcelona - who currently lead the Spanish La Liga and Group H of the UCL - can seal a place in the knockout round of the Champions League with a victory over AC Milan. Leo Messi's skill will obviously be a big part of the team's success moving forward as well, even if the world's top player is in a bit of a scoring drought.
"We would love to win because it would place us in a great position in the group," Barca forward Pedro said. "But Milan is a team that has a lot of potential and we cannot take them lightly. Leo is ambitious. He always wants to score but honestly, I see him calm. He is the best player in the world and the goals will come. Leo is not scoring but he is helping the team in other ways by giving assists.
Barcelona vs. AC Milan: DATE, TIME & TV INFO
DATE: Wednesday, November 6
TIME: 2:45pm, ET
TV COVERAGE: FOX Sports 1
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
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