AC Milan moved one step closer to dumping tournament favorites Barcelona out of the Champions League by securing a brilliant 2-0 win in the first leg of their last 16 tie at the San Siro.
Kevin Prince-Boateng and Sulley Muntari - two players interestingly former Portsmouth men - scored the all-important goals as Milan crucially kept Barcelona from notching the away goal, which would have turned the tie in Barca's favor.
In the other match of the day, Galatasaray failed to take advantage of having Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder in their side, by only managing a 1-1 draw against Schalke at home.
Burak Yilmaz opened the scoring for the Turkish side, only for Jermaine Jones to equalize on the stroke of halftime, with neither side finding the back of the net in the second period.
At the San Siro, all eyes were on Messi and co. to put on another spectacular performance against a Milan side so different from the one they met last season.
The game started on expected lines, with Barca bossing possession, as Milan looked to hit the away side on the counter.
Milan midfielder Riccardo Montolivo was crucial for his side in that aspect, with the playmaker not only doing his defensive duties well, but facilitating the quick counters by spraying the ball quickly to the two wide forwards Stephan El Sharaawy and Prince-Boateng, who tried to take advantage of their one-one-one abilities to create openings.
The likes of Xavi, Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta, meanwhile, were left frustrated as they failed to find that flowing passing game, barely finding a way past the Milan brick wall that was their defense, with even Lionel Messi unable to produce his magic.
El Shaarawy had the first golden chance after finding space on the left, but his second touch proved to be too heavy, allowing Carles Puyol to mop up. Boateng fired just wide off the ensuing corner, before Xavi tested Mialn goalkeeper Christian Abbiati with a speculative 30-yard effort.
Barca continued their possession game, looking to find that smallest of gaps between the Milan midfield and their defense, as the Italians looked to hit the sucker punch against the run of play.
Milan eventually got their goal in the 57th minute, albeit amidst extremely controversial circumstances. Montolivo struck a rolled freekick from 30 yards, which seemed to clearly strike Cristian Zapata's hands, before falling perfectly onto the path of Boateng, who made no mistake in striking the ball past Victor Valdes.
The Scottish referee Craig Thomson should have really called handball even if it might have not been deliberate, purely because of the huge impact it made in producing the goal. Gerrard Pique picked up a yellow card after protesting the decision, as Barca desperately looked to get back into the game.
Iniesta created a bit of magic inside the box to find himself some space, but saw his strike go just beyond the far corner. Xavi then curled a freekick just high, before Milan scored their second with a little under ten minutes remaining as Sulley Muntari smashed home a brilliant volley off a setup from El Shaarawy to send Milan into ecstasy.
Barca will now need to be wary of conceding an away goal at the Camp Nou, because if they do, then the Spanish league leaders will have to score at least four goals.
The tie is brilliantly poised, and with Barcelona being Barcelona, you just cannot put it beyond them to find the right performance on their own patch, but it is certainly advantage Milan.
