Barcelona vs. AC Milan: 6 Reasons for Barca to Be Worried Ahead of Second Leg

After a nil-nil score in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal, Barcelona find themselves in the position of having all to play for in the second leg.

Looking at the tie superficially, though, it's hard to see a way that Milan can pull off the upset.

After all, they couldn't snag a goal at home with the pitch's poor condition working in their favor. How then are they supposed to go to the Camp Nou, where Barca have been near unbeatable of late, and get a result?

While it does seem to be a foregone conclusion that the Blaugrana will be booking their place in the Champions League semifinals next week, last night's match surfaced some questions about Barca's ability to advance.

Here are six reasons why Barca supporters should be concerned headed into the second leg of this semifinal tie.

They Do Not Have to Lose to Be Knocked out

This one's pretty obvious.

It is the way of the two-legged tie that when you can't snag an away goal, there is clear pressure for you to get the home win.

Hence, with a nil-nil at the San Siro, Barca don't need to lose to be eliminated.

In fact, draws are basically out of the question, as a scoring draw sees them eliminated, while another nil-nil means extra time and possibly penalties.

Thus, the onus is on them to get the goals that allow them to pull away from Milan.

Milan's Defense Proved Staunch

I'm not saying that they found the antidote to Barcelona's thunderous attack.

After all, there were some gilt-edged opportunities for Barca throughout the match.

However, Milan clearly gave Barca more problems than they are used to seeing. They played physically and limited Messi and Co.'s opportunities.

Even their fouling, which was done at perfectly opportune moments, was a spectacle of defensive prowess.

Goalkeeper Christian Abbiati played a great match behind the defense, most notably beating away a first-half shot from Xavi (although he did spill the ball to Dani Alves and almost concede a penalty to Alexis Sanchez).

Was Barca's trouble mostly because of the state of the pitch, as has been suggested by players, managers, and supporters? That is a distinct possibility.

However, we should not take away from the way their defense stepped up and played.

Just look at the nil next to Barca.

Ibrahimovic Posed Problems

Milan's Swedish target-man Zlatan Ibrahimovic did well to pose problems for his old club.

His ability to hold the ball up was on full display, as he did well to get under long balls and distribute throughout Barcelona's final third.

Many have criticized the giant Swede's play last night due to the relatively low amount of touches he got on the ball.

To me, though, that was due to the lack of service, which was understandable as Milan were defending for most of the match.

Additionally, when he did get his touches, he was dangerous more often than not and posed by far the most threat of any Milan player.

Ibra is a player Barca definitely have to watch out for in the second leg.

At any moment, he is liable to create a goal out of nothing.

And when Barca needs a win and the Milan defense has Barca playing hundreds of passes to grab one goal, a nicked goal from Ibra is an incredibly dangerous prospect.

4. Milan Were Hurt by Injury

Barca may have many valid excuses for why the match turned out the way it did, but Milan has just as many excuses for why it didn't turn out even better for them.

After all, all-world centre back Thiago Silva, the scorer of the late equalizer against Barcelona at the Nou Camp in the Group Stage in September, was out with injury.

The scorer of that first goal, Alexandre Pato, was also sidelined.

Robinho, Kevin-Prince Boateng, and Nesta (the other centre half) were all battling injuries and were all substituted throughout the second half.

Should this injury situation improve, Milan could field an improved side next week.

Mark Van Bommel Was Suspended

Here's another situation that will get better before the second leg.

Due to yellow card accumulation, Mark van Bommel was forced to watch the first leg from the sideline.

The midfielder has used his experience and knowledge of the game to his advantage since joining Milan and has turned back the years at the club.

He has established himself as a clear first choice in the midfield.

Further, his ability to slow down the match could be useful against Barca.

Expect van Bommel back in the starting lineup next week.

Milan Had Their Chances

Barcelona may have had several good chances to snatch the away goal and bring it back to the Nou Camp, but it wasn't all one-way traffic.

In fact, Milan had at least three chances that could have easily turned into a goal.

First, it was Robinho's wild shot when the ball fell to him alone in the area.

Next, it was Ibra's left-footed effort with just the keeper to beat that he shanked straight at Valdes.

Finally, there was Emanuelson's first touch of the match. The ball fell perfectly to the Dutchman on the edge of the box and in space after he had just come on for Boateng. With a clear path to the net and just needing to beat Valdes, Emanuelson took a shocking first touch that allowed the Barca defenders to easily close him down.

Had that substitution been made a little later, it might have been Boateng in that position, and it could have been 1-0 Milan. Had it been a little earlier, it might not have been Emanuelson's first touch, and it could have been 1-0 Milan.

I don't mean to look at these as hypothetical situations (would've, could've, should've), but rather to point out that Milan created chances to score against Barca.

While they're just in need of a draw, if Milan would just take one of those chances next week, it could prove to be enough to sink Barca.