Barca set up dream final
The Catalans were unable to add to the 1-0 advantage they had established in the first leg at the San Siro last week and it remains to be seen if the two most attractive sides in European football live up to their billing in Paris on May 17.
But there was no disputing that Frank Rijkaard’s Barca deserved to book their place in the final after carving out enough chances to have won this encounter at a canter.
Milan’s hopes of preventing Barca from adding to their first leg advantage had not been helped by the loss of Alessandro Nesta to a groin strain, which resulted in the veteran Alessandro Costacurta being pressed into action in the centre of defence.
Yet it was the Italians who were first to bare their teeth in an encounter that had none of the caginess that disfigured the first leg.
With barely a minute on the clock, Jaap Stam’s simple pass through the inside right channel caught the Barca back four on their heels and allowed Kaka to get clear and fire a shot across Victor Valdes but narrowly beyond the far post.
That was to prove Milan’s best chance of the night and Barca’s response was swift, a typically sweet combination between Ludovic Giuly and Andres Iniesta sending Samuel Eto’o into the area, where Dida had to be quick off his line to make a good block.
The Milan goalkeeper was exposed once more in the 17th minute when Kakha Kaladze lost possession to Eto’o outside the area. The Cameroon striker burst into the box and his shot, which clipped the goalkeeper’s body, was looping towards goal when Costacurta stepped in to hook it away.
Barca were beginning to set up permanent camp in Milanese territory but they were not having things all their own way, Andriy Shevchenko’s effort finding the side netting.
And for all their territorial domination, Barca were gradually reduced to trying their luck from distance, Ronaldinho and Deco both unleashing efforts that flew a little too close to the target for Dida’s comfort.
There was a moment of concern for the Milan bench just before the break when Eto’o pushed the ball past Costacurta and was pulled down by the veteran, who, as the last man, was fortunate to escape with a yellow card.
Valdes was forced into his first save of the night shortly after the restart, comfortably gathering a diving header from Shevchenko.
Julian Belletti then missed a glorious chance by failing to finish off a move he had started himself. Ronaldinho carried it on by putting Giuly in behind the Milan left-back Serginho.
The Frenchman delivered a textbook low cross across the goalmouth but Belletti somehow contrived to swipe his boot at thin air when a touch of any description would have put the ball in the net.
The miss appeared to galvanise the hosts and Ronaldinho tested Dida from distance before finding Giuly at the back post with a dangerous cross which the Frenchman volleyed over.
Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti’s final throw of the dice was to replace midfield anchorman Gattuso with the guile of Rui Costa, but the effect of that change was simply to leave his side more vulnerable at the back.
It required a superb reflex stop from Dida to keep out a header from substitute Henrik Larsson, who dived bravely to meet an Eto’o cross from the left, and Deco could have relieved the tension for the home fans 20 minutes before the final whistle after Ronaldinho’s surge up the middle.
Deco’s shot, straight into the arms of Dida, was symptomatic of Barca’s finishing on the night but Milan’s own cutting edge never looked sharp enough to punish the Catalans.
Thierry Henry and co. might not be so forgiving.
BARCELONA: Valdes, Belletti, Marquez, Puyol, Van Bronckhorst, Iniesta, Edmilson, Deco, Giuly (Larsson 68), Eto’o (Van Bommel 89), Ronaldinho.
AC MILAN: Dida, Stam, Costacurta (Cafu 64), Kaladze, Serginho, Gattuso (Rui Costa 68), Pirlo, Seedorf, Shevchenko, Kaka, Inzaghi (Gilardino 80).
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany).
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