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Milan need a miracle to beat Barcelona - our expert panel debate the Champions League last 16
With the return of the Champions League, James Richardson and Goal.com's panel of experts discuss the key talking points at Wembley
| Bet: | Returns: | Espanyol $60.00 | Draw $44.00 | Barcelona $16.20 |
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But Milan, despite losing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to PSG in the summer, managed to progress from the group stages ahead Zenit by a single point.
Nonetheless, their failure to top the table ahead of Malaga has seen them paired with one of the competition favourites, and Goal.com's Carlo Garganese does not expect Massimiliano Allegri's side to progress any further.
"All logic points to a Barcelona win in the tie.," he said. "Just look at the Barcelona team. They're the best in the world, they have the best player in the world. Collectively, individually they're better than Milan in every department on the pitch."
"Milan's defence is very weak, it will be a miracle if Milan win this tie."
That said, our Spanish football expert Paul Macdonald believes Allegri's side can take some heart from Barca's performances in Europe.
"One are Milan can look to for cause of comfort is that Barcelona have conceded goals this season," insisted Paul. "Their record in the Champions League is nowhere near as strong as they've been domestically in La Liga, conceding goals against Spartak and Celtic, so if there's any area of the pitch Milan can look to exploit it can be the Barcelona defence."
Whether Milan have the attack to threaten Barcelona remains in question, without a certain new signing to call upon.
"Milan have a very young, exciting forward," added Carlo, "but unfortunately Balotelli is cup tied. In a couple of years they could have the best strike force in the world with El Shaarawy and Niang."
"With Balotelli ineligible, Pazzini will come in, and that does significantly weaken the Milan attack. I do think they'll score goals in this tie, but they're going to concede a lot."
So do you agree with Carlo that Milan stand no chance of progressing, or like Paul do you think they can trouble Barcelona's defence?
If you have any questions for our experts, just send your questions to our Twitter using the #AskGoal hashtag.
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