AC MILAN AND THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16: TIME MACHINE

It's the middle of February and the Champions of Italy, AC Milan, are getting themselves ready for a Champions League Round of 16 tie against the side from London, England. Before Tottenham, the last time we came across a side from the English capital was Arsène Wenger's Arsenal, in the 2011/12 season. It was a fixture characterised by a difficult first leg for the Rossoneri, before a stunning comeback in the home leg. Let's look back at this European night in our Time Machine.

SETTING THE SCENE
15 February 2012. Having won their 18th Serie A title the previous season, and in the hunt with Conte's Juventus for the Scudetto, the Rossoneri earned the fixture with the Gunners after finishing second in their group. Home wins over Viktoria Plzeň and BATĖ Borisov (followed by draws with in the Czech Republic and Belarus) had guaranteed progress to the next round, behind a Barcelona side who narrowly came out on top at San Siro after a 2-2 draw at Camp Nou. The Rossoneri came into the game in high spirits after a fighting back to win in Udine, stopping a run of three games without victory (defeats by Lazio and Juventus, and honours shared with Napoli). Therefore, the Champions League offered Allegri's side the chance to get their season back on track, as the Head Coach went with a 4-3-1-2 system: Abbiati; Abate, Mexès, Thiago Silva, Antonini; Seedorf, Van Bommel, Nocerino; Boateng in behind Ibrahimović and Robinho.

EXCELLENT FIRST HALF
Apart from a weak attempt by Rosický, the opening 15 minutes was all Rossoneri. Seedorf tried his luck first from the edge of the area, then Emanuelson - replacing the number 10, who went off due to injury after only eleven minutes - hit one on the half-volley after Ibra's setup. But it wasn't long before the lead came: 15 minutes in and Nocerino's pass forward found Boateng, who chested it down and volleyed into the net past Szczęsny. The San Siro following went wild in celebration, boosting further the home side's energy and belief. Again, it was Nocerino who came close to scoring after 21 minutes, while a couple of breakaways weren't taken advantage of in the following quarter of an hour. The second did eventually come though on the 38th-minute, with Ibrahimović advancing down the left, crossing in for Robinho, who timed his run perfectly and headed home to the give the Rossoneri a deserved two-goal lead. 

FOUR-GOAL HAUL
It was the same partnership that opened the second half to give AC Milan their third of the evening: Ibra passing to Robinho, who this time fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the box with his right. The three-goal advantage didn't stop the pace of the game, and the Rossoneri had a golden chance through Antonini, while at the other end in the 65th minute Abbiati dived to save from van Persie's volleyed attempt. The visitors' efforts though didn't instill any fear into the hosts and twelve minutes from normal time a twisting and turning Ibrahimović won a penalty after being brought down by Djourou. He picked himself up and struck home from the spot to grab his fifth Champions League goal of the season. The final result didn't change and it ended 4-0, enough to see the Rossoneri go through to the next round.

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