UEFA Champions League: Previewing AC Milan vs. FC Barcelona

Tuesday ushers the start of the always exciting three and a half months that is the UEFA Champions League group stage. What better way to start than with one of the most anticipated group stage matchups in recent memory between two of the giants: AC Milan and FC Barcelona.

Barcelona come in as the defending champions and will be looking for the Badge of Honor this season with their fifth triumph in Europe and fourth since 2006. The Spanish champions boast arguably the greatest starting XI in the history of the game with arguably the greatest player at nearly every position.

Manager Josep Guardiola, only 40 years young, is into his fourth season as Barcelona boss and already is the most decorated manager in club history. With the Blaugrana's win in the 2011 UEFA Super Cup in August, Guardiola won his 12th trophy in charge, the most ever by a Barcelona manager. The previous record was held by his former boss, the great Johan Cruyff, who won 11 titles in eight seasons.

AC Milan are back in the spotlight as the Italian champions. The club dominated Italy last season, losing only four times and allowing only 24 goals, leaving acres of space between them and other defenses. The combined attack of Pato, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted 42 goals between the three of them, 14 each, and Ibrahimovic led in all competitions with 20.

Massimiliano Allegri was in only his third season as a manager in Serie A and his first at Milan after being a surprise hire by the club. He helped turn around a crippled club that has now won the scudetto and the Italian Super Cup over Inter Milan in the last few months.

With Milan's lack of success in Europe since winning the Champions League in 2007, they have been forced into Pot 2 for the past two seasons, meaning they were guaranteed to be drawn with a top club. Of the seven teams they could be drawn with, it happened to be Barcelona.

While many would bow their heads in depression at the sight of their club being drawn with the world giants, as BATE Borisov and Viktoria Plzen surely did, Milan are welcoming the battle. The club is confident coming in, with star defender Thiago Silva, who turned down Barcelona this summer, stating that Tuesday's game features the two best teams in Europe.

With the game hours away, here is a look at potential lineups, key players and what to expect from this match.

Latest Matches

La Liga: Barcelona 2-2 Real Sociedad

Barcelona jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Sociedad, but the Catalans could not hold the lead, with their second-half collapse resulting in only a point at the Nou Camp.

Yes, Pep Guardiola decided to bench Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta to start, but Barcelona still had the advantage on their opponent no matter what.

Even with Messi's entrance following the Sociedad equalizer, Barcelona got nothing going and Messi's major inclusion was the booking he received in stoppage time for diving.

Worst of all for Barcelona, newcomer Alexis Sanchez left the match with a leg injury and will be out 6-8 weeks.

Serie A: Milan 2-2 Lazio

Opposite of their Tuesday opponents, last Saturday Milan came back from an early 2-0 deficit at home to seal a share of the spoils in an opening clash with Serie A bullies Lazio.

The Romans are always a tough side, but they are looking better than usual with the arrival of two attacking stars in Miroslav Klose and Djibril Cisse, who both scored within 21 minutes.

Milan were able to come back as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano netted in the 29th and 33rd minutes.

From Lazio's second goal, Milan controlled the game, dominating possession and had several chances to win.

Like Barcelona though, Milan started the match without the likes of Alexandre Pato and Mark van Bommel, making the side appear weaker.

Injury News

Milan are extremely plagued by injury. The club travel to Spain without their summer additions on defense: Taye Taiwo and Phillipe Mexes. Taiwo has been bothered by an ankle issue over the past couple weeks, and Mexes has been out since March with an ACL injury.

Mathieu Flamini won't be seeing much time as he has been ruled out for the next five months with a cruciate ligament tear. Antonio Nocerino was brought in as a last minute replacement in the transfer market.

Robinho has an injury in his pubis bone that has kept him out since before the international break, crippling Milan's attack, and now Zlatan Ibrahimovic is now out as well.

The Swedish striker was injured in training on Monday and will miss both the Barcelona and Napoli matches. Ibrahimovic would have been making his return to the club which first loaned then sold him to Milan after he joined the Catalans from Inter in 2009.

Milan will be thin on attack. Pato and Cassano are the healthy strikers, while Filippo Inzaghi and Stephan El Shaarawy were left off the Champions League roster for this season.

Barcelona lost Alexis Sanchez for 6-8 weeks in the Sociedad game this weekend, but the club are not too concerned as Pedro will jump in to take his spot. They are also without Gerard Pique, who is suffering from calf issues.

The club are boosted by the news that Carles Puyol will be healthy and ready to go for the Milan match. Puyol suffered a knee injury in January but did not have surgery until after Barcelona's win in the Champions League final on May 28th.

Probable Milan Starting XI

Formation: 4-3-2-1

With the injury setbacks up top, Milan may move to a 4-3-2-1 rather than starting both Pato and Antonio Cassano, thus leaving them struggling to create chances in the second half. Urby Emanuelson played well in the preseason and could get the nod in the midfield, but it could just as easily be new signing Antonio Nocerino.

Christian Abbiati

Ignazio Abate - Thiago Silva - Alessandro Nesta - Gianluca Zambrotta

Alberto Aquilani - Mark van Bommel - Urby Emanuelson

Clarence Seedorf (C) - Kevin-Prince Boateng

Alexandre Pato

Bench:

Marco Amelia

Daniele Bonera

Luca Antonini

Antonio Nocerino

Massimo Ambrosini

Gennaro Gattuso

Antonio Cassano

Probable Barcelona Starting XI

Formation: 4-3-3

Puyol may be put right back into the action with the absence of Pique, and it is certain that Pedro will be playing up top as he did so often last season.

Victor Valdes

Dani Alves - Javier Mascherano - Carles Puyol - Eric Abidal

Xavi Hernandez (C) - Sergio Busquets - Andres Iniesta

David Villa - Lionel Messi - Pedro Rodriguez

Bench:

Pinto

Adriano

Andreu Fontas

Seydou Keita

Cesc Fabregas

Thiago Alcantara

Ibrahim Afellay

Prediction

The two matchups between Milan and Barcelona will be two of the best the Champions League will offer this season. If you're looking for world-class football, this is the game to watch.

I agree with Thiago Silva about the magnitude of this game. I would be hesitant to ultimately declare Milan the second best team in Europe, but they are in that upper echelon where you could make a case for a couple teams.

Barcelona are the undisputed giants of the world. Their possession game and overall skill is hard to stop, but Milan are one of the few that could stop them.

Milan have been praised for their Barcelona-style play. Serie A commentator Max Patrick last year described Milan's possession game as merely a slower version of Barcelona's game.

The Blaugrana are not used to facing seasoned, talented defenses either. Despite the constant hole at left back, which will likely be fixed by Taye Taiwo, Milan are one of the best defensive teams in Europe. Thiago Silva will be the best defensive player on the pitch Tuesday night and will anchor a Milan defense that features a dangerous wide player in Ignazio Abate, a seasoned Alessandro Nesta and former Barcelona man Gianluca Zambrotta, who makes his return to Camp Nou for the first time since his move to Milan.

It will be difficult for Barcelona to break the Milan line, but at the same time, Milan will find it hard to get past Barcelona in their revised system. In December when Ibrahimovic and Robinho will likely be available, it will be an interesting battle on the San Siro pitch.

I see this game being closer to a stalemate than anything. I think if a winner is to be found, it will be Barcelona late, but Milan's defense do not get enough credit. This isn't like last season when Allegri was forced to throw Marco Amelia in against Real Madrid in a 2-0 loss. Abbiati is healthy and that is bad news for the world.

Two of, if not the two best teams in the world take the pitch together Tuesday night and I think they both walk away with a point.

Final Score: Barcelona 1-1 Milan