Barcelona vs. AC Milan: What the UCL Tie Reveals about Both Team's Prospects

There's been a lot of talk about the state of Barcelona recently. From the blindly faithful to the churlishly critical, commentators everywhere have had the Catalans under the microscope.

On the one hand, there's the obvious league dominance and the abundance of talent. On the other, there's occasional defensive frailty and a creeping belief across the continent that after having dominated the game for so long, Barca's tiki-taka has now been figured out. 

Against AC Milan in the San Siro, the Italians proved that a well-organized defence and cool heads can be the undoing of this great Barcelona side. Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid did much the same shortly after. 

However, their resounding victory against Milan in the second leg proves that Barca have a plan B—and that they're far from being yesterday's news.

At the San Siro, Phillipe Mexes marked Lionel Messi out of the game, shutting down the Catalan's attacks and confining their possession to the middle of the park where they could pose little threat.

At the Camp Nou, Barcelona's tactics shifted greatly with David Villa in the proper striker's role, forcing Milan's defence back, demanding they keep and eye on him, and therefore opening up space for Messi who was deployed in the free-roaming No.10 role that he was born to play. 

The results were emphatic. Whereas the Spanish side had been predictable and impotent in the first leg, at home they were electric and had Milan pinned back right from the off.

Admittedly, Milan weren't at their best. Kevin Constant had one of his worst games in a Milan shirt, looking overawed by the occasion and unable to deal with Barca's blistering pace.

It was his mistake that allowed Villa the opportunity to score the third, but he'd already done enough wrong at that point to warrant substitution. That said, if one were in the mood for criticism, it would be easy to find targets elsewhere on the pitch. 

Cristian Zapata and Mexes looked like second-tier defenders for much of the night and Kevin Prince Boateng was, for want of a better word, pointless throughout the match. 

M'Baye Niang will have better nights as a Rossonero, and had he been able to convert his excellent opportunity, this could have been a very different game. 

All of this says much about the state of the two clubs. 

Barca are comfortably ahead in la Liga, but by their own immensely high standards they've been far from their best at times this season. 

Many have wondered if Pep Guardiola's departure would be the beginning of the end of this great Catalan side, and current boss Tito Vilanova's medical problems have certainly added to the strain.

By flipping the script in such impressive fashion against Milan, however, assistant coach Jordi Roura might have injected fresh life into the beast that is the Blaugrana. 

If it can be repeated regularly, the ability to change shape so fluidly and anticipate their opponent's strategy would be an incredible weapon. And having to ponder how best to handle Messi the false-9 and Messi the free roaming No.10 should have managers across Europe wide awake at night. 

The win against Milan hasn't just got Barca out of a temporary hole. It might just have laid the template for a whole new era of success.

At Milan, meanwhile, disappointment shouldn't sully what was still an excellent first-leg performance too much.

Massimiliano Allegri has a young squad at his disposal, and following the sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to Paris Saint-German last summer, few would have bet on them being a force in this year's Champions League anyway.

Stephan El Shaarawy and Niang have developed into top-class players very quickly and will undoubtedly have learned much from this campaign, while the presence of Mario Balotelli and hopefully a fit Giampaolo Pazzini for 2013-14 will make the Rossoneri a far more intimidating prospect up front. 

Before then, there's much work to be done. Constant really was outclassed against Barcelona, and looked very much like the midfielder-played-as-a-fullback that he is. Talented, important players like Mexes and Boateng must learn to become consistent performers at the highest level—or brutal though it may seem, must be replaced. 

Mathieu Flamini's energy was mostly misplaced at the Camp Nou, and at 35, club captain Massimo Ambrosini simply doesn't have enough energy to misplace anymore. 

These are issues that Allegri needs to deal with if he's going to continue what is one of European football's most exciting development projects. The seven-times UCL winners are proving that patience and commitment to youth can pay dividends, but if they want to improve next season they'll need to convert that potential into potency.