AC Milan hold Barcelona to a draw

MILAN: AC Milan survived a dominant second-half display by Barcelona to deprive the Spanish giants of a third successive Champions League Group H win in a pulsating 1-1 draw at the San Siro on Tuesday.

The draw leaves Barcelona top of the group on seven points with Milan in second on five while Celtic are third with three having beaten Ajax 2-1 also on Tuesday.

Milan missed a golden chance through Robinho in the second half to take the lead for the second time on the night but, having then soaked up plenty of pressure, coach Massimiliano Allegri was pleased with a share of the spoils. "I'm happy with our overall performance. Mistakes are part of the game and conceding a goal against Barcelona is always to be expected," said Allegri. "We had to be extra focused tonight, against a team like Barcelona you have to have eyes all over the pitch to keep track."

Meanwhile, Barca coach Gerardo Martino did his best to avoid questions about his side's 'Clasico' against arch rivals Real Madrid this weekend, but he was visibly frustrated with his side's failure to virtually secure early qualification for the last 16. "It's a good point for us... but if you look over the 90 minutes I think we deserved to take more from the game," said Martino, who waved off suggestions Barca's defence, to blame for Milan's opener, was below its best. "We made a mistake which led to Milan's goal but I don't think our defence was under par and I didn't see major errors on our part."

Milan striker Mario Balotelli started on the bench due to a recent thigh problem while Lionel Messi, suffering from a similar problem, started for the Spanish champions.

After levelling Robinho's ninth-minute opener in the 23rd minute, the Argentine star proved a thorn in Milan's side all night.

Barcelona started sluggishly and Marco Amelia, replacing the injured Christian Abbiati in the Milan goal, had little to do early on.

Instead, Robinho gave Milan a deserved lead, the Brazilian winning possession from Gerard Pique after a mix-up with Javier Mascherano and holding off the big defender to slip the ball to fellow former Real Madrid man Kaka.

His return ball found Robinho six yards out and free to fire the ball past Victor Valdes in goal.

However, Messi took only 23 minutes to equalise after Milan's own blunder in midfield.

An overhit pass gave Andres Iniesta possession and, after he threaded a long ball through, Messi deftly skipped half-challenges by Phillipe Mexes and Kevin Constant to shoot low inside Amelia's left-hand post.
Mexes then sent a header just wide from a corner while Amelia came under pressure twice from Messi and once from Alexis Sanchez, with Cristian Zapata coming to the rescue.

Barely a minute later, Neymar was denied what would have been a wonderful goal when he sent an angled half-volley just wide.

Barcelona started the second half brighter but Robinho spurned a golden chance to put the hosts ahead again when he completely missed the ball after Constant's long cross had sent him clear.

Martino's side were more compact and their high pressing was causing Milan problems -- Amelia had to perform heroics to keep out Iniesta's shot from inside the area after the midfielder had been sent through.
Balotelli replaced Robinho in the 64th minute and was unlucky not to get a touch on Constant's fierce drive.

Soon after, a superb cross from Dani Alves found Adriano in the area but the left-back's first-time effort curled wide of Amelia's post.
Both side made a series of substitutions but the intensity evaporated in the dying minutes, although Sulley Muntari was left lamenting a scoring chance when he stumbled and failed to capitalise after being sent through.

Barcelona kept pressing, however, and Milan survived a late scare when Mexes headed out a probing cross for a corner in the final minutes. (AFP)