Champions League preview: waving the white flag?

Barcelona suffered a crushing blow after an impressive start to the season losing to Milan 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions League. The Catalan side faces a tough challenge on Tuesday aiming to overcome the deficit and to reach the quarter-finals stage.

The Spanish giants lost only two points in their first 19 fixtures in La Liga and cemented a top place in the standings, but during the last two months the team’s fortunes changed and Barca’s performance is hard to recognize. The team had not kept a clean sheet in 13 games in all competitions until Saturday’s 2-0 over Deportivo La Coruña.

Milan’s run this year was much more impressive as the club have not experienced a defeat in 10 Serie A fixtures winning Genoa on Friday 2-0. Barca seems to lack ideas on the field and this was clearly shown in the King’s Cup clash against Real Madrid that Barca lost 2-1. Some may argue that the Blaugrana has always faced a drop in the form in February for last five seasons, but this time the slump coincided with the absence of manager Tito Vilanova, who has been receiving cancer treatment in New York.

The team is led by Jordi Roura who claims he is in close contact with Vilanova, however, it seems that he lacks the strength and authority to motivate the players. The club approaches the fixture with a lot of problems, but surely Barca will put all their power and concentration to turn the tie around. If they have enough of both is yet the question that remains open.