All CL discussion here

AC Milan will face one of five sides in the preliminary round of the 2013-14 Champions League later this month.

The Italian side are required to compete in a preliminary round in order to reach the tournament's group stage, and their first opponents will be drawn on August 9.

The five teams they could be drawn against are Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, Ukrainian team Metalist Kharkiv, Turkish club Fenerbahce, Spanish side Real Sociedad, or Portuguese club Pacos Ferreira.

The preliminary matches are set to take place later this month, with the first legs taking place on August 20 and 21, and the second legs on August 27 and 28.
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Really don't want to play vs PSV, Fener can be tough too. The Portuguese club would be nice..

This is gonna be one tough play-offs. Wouldn't be surprised if we get kicked. Should have signed Honda and maybe Ljajic by now.

My thoughts exactly. Some of those teams are actually good.

Naah, I don't think we're gonna get kicked out. PSV and Fener should obviously be avoided, especially the Turks.

PSV Eindhoven and Fenerbahce are the two clear and present dangers. The rest are okay-ish.

Ah, Fillipo beat me to it. Yeah, slim chances of us getting knocked out. A possibility yes, but if we do get kicked out, then it will in all probability be a deserved one.

Metalist wouldn't be easy either, basically there is only one team that I'd be pretty sure of advancing against the others are all basically banana skins, especially when we're the team playing against them considering we're known to make our lives overly difficult.

If Honda and Ljajic aren't part of the team by then, especially Honda, we'll struggle imo

Which team is easy in your opinion?

Pacos Ferreira, not a walk in the park but easier than the others.

PSV aren't as strong as they used to be, I think most Milan fans just remember the PSV we faced under Carlo, the team that nearly KO'd us in the semi and then gave us a hard time in the group stage the following year. Still they're not going to be easy and Metalist have some good players, Fener and Sociedad are probably the most difficuilt.

The draw is tomorrow right?

As long as we have Balo, I'm pretty sure we'll advance.

Agreed with all of this.

Like who? Just gave a look at their roster, couldn't recognize anyone.

I think Metalist and Pachos are the easiest picks, followed by Sociedad. PSV or Fenerbahçe would be a "nightmare".

Gomez, who played the last 3 seasons in Catania. Sosa from Napoli.

I honestly can't remember Sosa, and Gomez is just average.

+1

PSV for us. Just Great!

And Balo is undergoing medicals so he's a doubt for this...

Well, we'll have to fight for this one.

Forza Milan

PSV-Milan and Arsenal-Fenerbahçe. Clearly a fixed draw. UEFA want to attract as much attention as possible. Their shenanigans are starting to become too obvious.

Tough game for us, no doubt, but at least this might push the board into signing Honda right away.

The problem with Honda is that CSKA don't want to sell him to us, it's not about the money so we're basically stuck.

Most media outlets are insistant on the fact that we'll get him in the summer but atm, it's not looking likely...

You don't know that for sure. I think if we make the right offer, they'll eventually sell him to us. But we've been complete assholes in handling the case, offering peanuts for a really good player. The fact that his contract expires in January shouldn't refrain us from spending an extra 2-3 million to acquire his services right now. At least that's how I see it.

By the way, the club just communicated that examinations for Balo resulted negative, so he'll definitely be available for the play-off.

UEFA want Milan and Arsenal in the CL and they're not in the taking risks business - Balotelli gets injured and Milan could very well be out. They'd also much rather have PSV and Fener in place of some other teams in this draw. Why would they fix this? Makes no sense.

you really need to look again at Gomez, he was a monster for Catania, arguably their best player along with Bergessio.

+1

We'll see, personally I'm on the fence

We desperately need Honda right away, but he's a sure thing in January and that 3m could go a long way in smoothing the Ljajic deal through.

This is great news!



While I agree with X-off, I see where you're coming from and I agree as well.

I really don't know. I'm not sharing your enthusiasm on the player. Catania were a great blend of players, a good unit. But I don't think Gomez as a individual should be someone who makes a team nor do I think he alone can do something special against Milan.

On top of it, we've beaten Catania with Bergessio and Gomez a couple of times, so I don't see why we should be worried with Metalist.

But that's passe now, since we've already drawn PSV.

So they can make the play-offs more appealing. If Milan or Arsenal get kicked, it won't be the end of the world for UEFA.



No offense, but you overrate Serie A/B players a lot sometimes. I've seen Catania play many times. Gomez isn't anything special, and Bergessio is a very, very mediocre striker.

They'd much rather secure Milan and Arsenal in the group stage than have more appealing play-offs which no one ever watches unless their team is playing anyway.

Do you guys think that even if we sign Honda now, there will have enough time for him to acclimate to everyone else's style/tendencies to be effective? The first leg is only a week and a half away. On the other hand, since he's playing with CSKA already, he'll be more match-fit than anyone else on the squad.

Hit or miss in my opinion -- some players fit right in, some take a while, and some just never fit in at all. Hard to tell...my biased and hopeful guess is that he'll fit in quickly.

I doubt our fate lies in Honda ... Balotrlli is fine and the team, if compact and focused, can do damage to PSG. I have faith in this team and hope we close this tie in the first leg.

I meant Barrientos and not bergessio....bergessio does in all honesty....fall very short of my enthusiasm

But Gomez actually is all that (and at least i got his name right )

First of all, I would love to have you explain to me where the talent in Catania is if you seem unwilling to concede the talent up front. Truth is, i wouldn't want either El papu up front for us, but technically and athletically Gomez was by far the dangerman on both wings. Gomez was easily one of the best wingers in the league (i'll grant you there aren't many 4-3-3s out there...).

I could cite (and will) the serious interest from Atletico Madrid and Inter or show you clips of his dribbling, shooting, sprinting, positioning in Catania's attacks (under 4-5 different coaches mind you) but in truth, the beauty of these forums is the difference of opinions, and the allowance for some members to be so unwilling to recognise talent, lest they seem to gitty or flippant to enjoy watching non-elite players.

Just in case the links to Inter and Atletico get laughed off...

That's a rather presumptuous thing to say. Unwilling to recognize talent? For the love of god...

I think he's very useful. you don't. Care to bring up footballing matters now or are we not quite there yet?
Forget i ever said anything and you MUST believe me, my opinion was never intended to dishearten you, friends?

I think people tend to overrate Balo to high heavens. He's a great player, don't get me wrong, but he's not a Zlatan type of forward just yet, he needs to have service in order to be effective and atm, with Prince as the trequartista I can't see where the service is going to come from.

Honda is crucial for us for many reasons, but most importantly because we have no one like him and have been craving someone like him since Kaka.

I can't say that I've watched him a lot through the years, but since we've been interested in him and he's basically a confirmed Milan player (whenever that might happen) I've kept an eye on him and he's a very intelligent player on the ball. Quick thinker, always looks for the pass, great from dead ball, good dribbler, quick acceleration and a good shooter from distance as well. The only negative thing I can see so far is that he can be slightly lazy at times when tracking back, but I don't know if this is because he's already got one foot out of CSKA's door or what, he didn't look like that with Japan when they played Italy.

So yeah, I do think Honda is crucial for us in this case, for the entire season in fact.

Having this midfield



As opposed to this



Will make a world of difference. And we all know that Alllegri WILL play Muntari if he has the opportunity to do so

I think Honda is a bit overrated personally, if he joins I hope he proves me wrong.

+1

But I think han doesn't overrate him, he just rates the positions and options he'll bring for us in opposite to what we have now.

What are you talking about Han? Balo got the needed goals last year from a pretty non existing service...We have Poli in the midfield this year as well.

Yes, it will be much better with Honda around though.

Poli is a CM not an AM and he's not even the right type of player to sub for Monto

As for Balo, check how many of his goals were penalties.

And it's not just about the goals, Ibra made goals for the rest of the team as well, he made Nocerino and Prince look like world beaters for crying out loud. That's the type of influence I'm talking about and Balo, as of right now, does not bring that. He needs some proper support from the midfield. The refs aren't going to whistle every time someone falls down like they did last season for us.

What footballing matters? I think he's average, you think he's a 'monster'. Difference of opinions, end of the argument.

So where do you suggest playing Poli then?rb?lol

Point taken about the penalties though he did win a fair share of them. I agree about Ibra's influence on the whole team is much better..and Balo tbh is working much harder off ball and as a passing layout for teammates. He's a game winner imo that's for sure though.

At CM but imo, he has no where near the skillset of Monto, i.e he's not someone who controls the tempo.

Think of it this way, if Monto is Xavi, Poli is Iniesta in a midfield.

Meaning, he's more of a quick passer, can find a good final pass when pushing up rather than someone who sits and dictates. This also means that if Monto gets injured we're still basically screwed

Yes, Balo is a match winner, he's a great player, our best player in fact. But he's still not at a level where he can carry the team ala Ibra without a good supporting cast, which is where the importance of someone like Honda comes in. While with Ibra who played next to him didn't matter all that much.

As for the penalties he won, let's face it, the majority of them were very soft

Mexes will miss the first game against PSV because of suspension.

And here we are worrying if he'll be fit...

At least Zapata has looked great in the games he's played.

+2

I just realized we have to play PSV. TBH I can't see us going through. you have to sharp when playing these kinds of teams and I don't know if we are there [yet].

Just realized?

You can't see us going through? I don't know guys, I really think you're being overly pessimistic. Why wouldn't the same be applied to PSV? Sure, they started with competitive matches earlier, but they've also lost integral players this summer period.

I think we'll go through, anything but that would be a surprise.