Silva injury piles misery on AC Milan ahead of Barcelona clash
Published:Barcelona may not be classified as the best value at 8/11 in the Champions League odds to win away to AC Milan, but their task has been made far easier by the expected absence of Thiago Silva.
Silva is undoubtedly the Italian champions’ best defender and has already had a positive impact once against Barcelona this season, when scoring an injury-time equaliser in the 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stages.
However, a repeat is seemingly off the cards as the Brazilian suffered a muscle injury in the Serie A home victory over Roma and had to be replaced.
The only good news for Milan is that fellow defender Alessandro Nesta made the bench for the success, but whether he is fit enough to be thrown straight back in against the likes of Lionel Messi remains to be seen.
Silva’s absence means that Milan are going to be without a handful of first teamers for the first leg of the quarter final.
Mark Van Bommel is suspended, right-back Ignazio Abate is injured and Alexandre Pato is definitely out, while fellow strikers Robinho and Maxi Lopez are doubts.
Meanwhile, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is experiencing back pains although he managed 90 minutes against Roma.
On the plus side, Kevin Prince Boateng did step off the bench in the game, although Milan will be wary of thrusting him back too quickly, something they have already done once this season.
Among the reasons why the cards were already stacked against Barcelona is that they have lost two fixtures at home to the Spanish giants and not beaten them since 2004.
Furthermore, Barcelona have won their last six Champions League away games and have netted an impressive 15 goals in their four games on the road this season.
With Silva absent, they could be among the goals again and 9/4 could be a price worth taking that Barcelona score at least three times at the San Siro, as they did in the group stages.
