Guardiola hails Milan quality - 7M sport

Guardiola hails Milan quality



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Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2012 by ESPN

Guardiola hails Milan quality

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola believes his team's Champions League quarter-final tie with AC Milan will not be decided over just one leg.

The first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between AC Milan and Barcelona has been hailed as the most important tie of the round, as it involves two teams with a rich vein of history in the competition and several players at the top of their game.

Despite many backing his team to progress, Guardiola has warned that taking the tie against Milan will be a far from simple task.

"San Siro is one of the great stadiums in European football and AC Milan is one of the best teams in the world." he told fcbarcelona.com.

"In the quarter-finals of a competition like this, with an opponent like this one, you must be aware that have to play two excellent games or you won't go through,"

The Spaniard believes the Rossoneri have an advantage in the air, and that Barcelona should look to starve the Italian side of possession. Guardiola also reserved special praise for former Los Cules player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, hailing the Swede as an integral part of Milan's attack.

"They have great combative play, they're good in the air, and they dominate long passes, thanks to Ibrahimovic, when he receives the ball, the whole offensive mechanism of the team snaps into play." he stated.

"He's unbeatable in the air. We must try to deactivate him and AC Milan through ball possession."

The player most likely to be assigned the task of keeping Ibrahimovic quiet is Gerard Pique. The defender admitted that successfully doing so will be arduous, but necessary to improve his team's chances.

"He’s one of the world’s best players. He’s very difficult to stop, he’s a very complete player. He’s fantastic in the air and he’s great with the ball at his feet - we have to be alert and try to deny him the ball." Pique said.

"We can’t let him breathe because he’s having a fantastic year."

The first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie between AC Milan and Barcelona will take place at the San Siro tonight [Wednesday].



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