Barcelona vs. AC Milan: 5 Things We Learned About Barca

So the magician worked his magic, Fabregas was fab and Villa weaved a winner round the helpless Milan defense.

Right?

Not quite.

Indeed, that's pretty much how it worked for 5,350 seconds of Barcelona brilliance Tuesday night at Camp Nou. Problem was, Barcelona needed 5,400.

And let the cliches begin.

In football, you must play the full 90 minutes.

In football, you must never underestimate your opponent.

In football, winning requires complete concentration.

And in football, champions know how to kill a match.

True enough, but let the record show this: In football, there's still no team better than Barcelona, Tuesday night's results be damned. Whether it was 2-0, 2-2 or 8-2, Barcelona's game against AC Milan on Tuesday night wasn't necessarily about the result.

No, Tuesday night for Barcelona was about getting it over with. It was about getting through the first of two tough group-stage matches, both against a fellow European blue-blood in AC Milan. It was about playing well enough to not get beat and it was about moving back to face the oncoming threat of Real Madrid in La Liga—all without any real harm done.

On those counts, Tuesday proved mostly successful.

Barcelona played well enough to win and probably would have if not for two moments of inexcusable lapses. Lionel Messi shined, like he always does, and Cesc Fabregas made a successful Champions League debut in a Barcelona shirt after coming on for the mysteriously injured Andres Iniesta.

But that's where the problems started. With Iniesta's injury, Barca suddenly possessed a midfield with concerns over depth. Alexis Sanchez was missing through long-term injury, and then Iniesta had to leave the game prematurely.

Later, a dinged-up Carles Puyol came in to steady the back line in anticipation of AC Milan's last gasp. But when gasp came at last, as everyone must have known it would, another defender, Milan's Thiago Silva, towered above the rest to punish Barcelona's second lapse, seconds before the final whistle.

It served as the final bit of cruelty for Barcelona, which allowed itself only one other lapse—in the game's opening 30 seconds. Normally such a lapse would go unpunished, but before those 30 seconds ticked off the clock, Gato had already hopped and skipped through Barcelona's midfield, streaked past a momentarily sluggish defense and shot past a stunned Victor Valdes.

Messi's magic and Villa's brilliance steered the game back to Barcelona, but for all the seeming certainty of its dominance, two mistakes cost two precious points.

No matter, though. Barcelona will qualify for the knockout stage and so will Milan. Neither club will struggle at all to eliminate BATE Borisov or Viktoria Plzen, even if both sets of fans struggle to follow their heroes deep into the heart of the continent.

That's because the result wasn't important, but the act of getting through it was. And despite the frustration Messi and his mates must feel tonight, everything will be forgotten months—even weeks—from now.

With that in mind, here are five things we learned from Barca's performance in a 2-2 draw with AC Milan on Tuesday night.

So Barcelona Is Human After All

Pato showed it in the game's opening seconds. Thiago Silva repeated the feat in its closing moments.

Barcelona is made up of humans after all—fallible, beatable humans.

So much has been made over the past year about Barcelona's transcendent team. After sweeping to La Liga and Champions League glory last term, Barcelona rightfully earned the title of best team in the world.

But for two moments Tuesday night, Barcelona looked average. During those two brief moments, Milan made itself equal to its illustrious host.

First, Pato picked up a pass in the midfield second after kickoff cut through a few opponents untouched and suddenly found himself 1-on-1 with Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes. A few stutter-steps and a surgical strike later, Milan led 1-0 with just over 24 seconds on the clock.

Barcelona spent the next 10 minutes licking its wounds. The midfield, so silky in its control and dominance, looked average. The players looked rattled. The passes lacked pace. Barcelona lacked the edge it normally brings in its sleep.

It returned, of course, and Barcelona took the lead seemingly for good early in the second half on David Villa's wonderful free-kick goal.

But then at the very end of the match, Barca looked human once again. Silva leaped higher than any other player, exposing perhaps Barcelona's biggest weakness, and scored the equalizer with a powerful header that no keeper could have saved.

Call it luck if you want, but that's not what it was. Barcelona got sloppy and Milan took advantage.

For a few moments, Barcelona looked mortal. And Milan made it count.

But Lionel Messi Still Is Not

Sometimes people like to call Lionel Messi the Little Magician.

Want to know why?

First look here.

Then look here.

Then, consider Messi did that by himself. It's magic, and it's something only Messi can do.

That piece of solo brilliance led to Barcelona's equalizer in the first half. But it also helped end the frustration that had been building since Pato's shocking opener, because for several minutes after that first goal, Barcelona didn't have the cutting edge it needed to unlock AC Milan.

Messi, of course, can do that to any defense on any night. He did it with pace and precision Tuesday night, blowing past Milan right back Ignazio Abate and placing a perfect pass just past goalkeeper Christian Abbiati's reach so that all Pedro had to do was show up and collect the reward.

After that, Barca looked able to score as many goals as it wanted. David Villa's free kick turned out to be the only other tally, but Messi managed to keep Milan's back line busy for the rest of the match.

Once again, Messi showed why he's the best player in the world.

Barcelona Is Vulnerable to the Right Offensive Strategy

AC Milan's two goals Tuesday showed Barcelona's opponents two ways to attack the European champions.

The first was all speed. Pato and Milan needed only 24 seconds to rip through the heart of Barcelona's midfield and defense for a goal. It was brilliant: Barcelona had not even settled into the game, and Pato took advantage, dribbling directly through the center of the pitch with pace.

And that's just the thing to do against a team with great passing and space-management skills.

Arsenal also used speed to its advantage in a 2-1 victory over Barcelona in last year's Champions League. That's not to say speed and dribbling will always work, but with the right players, it can work.

The second was all power. Thiago Silva towered over Barcelona's somewhat undersized defense to power home an equalizing header in stoppage time. It didn't help Barcelona that Gerard Pique missed the game. He provides perhaps Barcelona's best physical presence on set piece, and his absence showed.

Speaking of Pique…

The Barcelona Defense Needs Puyol and Pique

Gerard Pique missed the match after suffering a hamstring injury in August. Carles Puyol played in the second half but is just coming back after a knee operation in June.

At 6'4", Pique represents Barcelona's most imposing physical presence on defense. And at age 33, Puyol provides experience and leadership. But Barcelona missed both Tuesday, even with Puyol's cameo.

Both will be needed if Barcelona is to repeat in Spain and Europe.

It's as simple as that. Barcelona played well enough to win Tuesday, but two defensive lapses cost them two points. It's impossible to know whether Puyol and Pique would have allowed those lapses to happen, but here's guessing they wouldn't have.

And here's guessing Barcelona would have won 2-0 with them.

Midfield Depth Will Be Tested

Andres Iniesta left Tuesday's match with a mysterious first-half injury. After the game it was revealed that he had torn a hamstring and will miss about a month of action.

With Chilean Alexis Sanchez already out with a long-term injury, Barcelona is now facing a test of its midfield depth.

So how great does that Cesc Fabregas signing look now?

Barcelona has perhaps the best midfield in the world, but the next few weeks and maybe months will serve as a test. Fortunately for Barca, there are still plenty of options.

But now is the time for Cesc to show his worth.