Barcelona 0 - Milan 2

Barcelona: Dutruel; Reiziger, Abelardo (Dani 80'), Frank De Boer; Gerard (Overmars 65'), Cocu; Simao, De la Peña (Luis Enrique 46'), Sergi; Rivaldo, Kluivert. 3-2-3-2.

Goals:
0-1. 45. Coco. Header after centre from left by Giunti.
0-2. 71. Bierhoff. Another header, this time from Coco's cross.

Barcelona left themselves with a lot to do after losing their second Champions League match in a row. Something is not quite right at Barça, but nobody can put their finger on it. Some say it is the arrival of Iván De la Peña in the side, others that Rivaldo is out of position, others that Overmars and/or Simao are not clicking and still others say they are missing Guardiola. Emmanuel Petit just says that right now they are lacking b*lls. Whatever the case they did most of the attacking in this match but could not get the ball in the net, and Milan caught them on the hop twice with two almost identical headed goals.

Knowing that Milan would be very disciplined in defence, Serra Ferrer started with Rivaldo in attack with Kluivert in order to try and find a way through. Petit went down with gastro-enteritis before the game, so Cocu came in to midfield, with Sergi surprisingly playing on the left wing in place of the off-form Overmars. Milan came with all their big guns, except for their ex Real Madrid midfielder Redondo who was injured. The four players in the Olympic squad returned, although only Gattuso played at the start, with manager Zaccheroni preferring to keep Dida in goal rather than Abbiati, with Comandini and Ambrosini on the bench.

Dida was questioned last week after letting Bowyer's shot through his hands at the end of the game against Leeds, but this time he made no mistakes. After Barça had failed to take several chances, Milan scored with virtually their first attack of the game, Coco getting away from Gerard to head Giunyi's free kick past Dutruel. At half time Luis Enrique appeared for De la Peña, his first game in seven months following his knee operation, and right from the kick off Rivaldo missed an easy chance in front of goal. Milan were still dangerous on the break, and Dutruel had to save from Shevchenko, with Dida stopping Luis Enrique and Sergi at the other end. Serra Ferrer went for broke and brought on Overmars, but that left them short at the back and Milan took advantage to score in a carbon copy of the first goal, this time Bierhoff producing the sucker punch from Coco's cross. Dani came on too, but Comandini almost made it three when his shot hit the post.

The result leaves Barça in a difficult position with only one win in three games, and their next two matches are away at Milan and Leeds. They need to win at least one of the two, plus beat Besiktas in the Camp Nou on the last day. If they don't qualify they still could end up third and go in to the UEFA cup, and it may be worth an outside bet for Barça to win that competition. The first timid criticisms are being made of Serra Ferrer, who was after all a stand-in, and Arsene Wenger and Fabio Capello are already heading the list of possible replacements. Much will depend upon their game at Deportivo La Coruña on Sunday, not the first place one would choose to go to if one's job were on the line. But then this Barcelona, and the fans expect the best.