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Rampant Barca ready for Milan By: Agencies October 20, 2004
Rome: The battle for control of Champions League Group F match begins in earnest on Wednesday when AC Milan host Barcelona at the San Siro stadium.
It is a tie made in football heaven at least on paper. It epitomises the clash of cultures, the collision of pedigrees among Europes soccer nobility that makes the Champions League such a compelling spectacle.
The Serie A champions are shaping up to be Juves biggest threat for this years Italian title, and have a European Cup heritage second only to Real Madrids six wins in nine final appearances.
They entertain a rampant, rejuvenated Barcelona now managed by ex-rossonerri star Frank Rijkaard in a re-match of the 1994 Champions League final in Athens. It would be a major shock if Milan repeated that 4-0 victory Barca are widely regarded as the form team Europe at present.
Barcelona have got off to a flying start in both domestic and European competition.
The Catalan club, thrashed 4-0 in the 1994 final by Milan, stretched their lead at the top of the Primera Liga to five points at the weekend following a comfortable 1-0 win over city rivals Espanyol and are now the only unbeaten side in the league.
They won their opening two Champions League matches against Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk by comfortable margins and still look to be playing well within themselves.
But African Player of the Year Samuel Etoo, who has been in outstanding form since joining the club from Mallorca in the close season, believes the team need to make sure they do not get carried away by their early success.
We must make sure we retain the humility that has served us so well up until now, the Cameroon striker said.
The game against Milan is a very important one, but we need to stay calm and concentrate as much as possible on the task in hand.
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