The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Arsenal experience a lesson for Milan at Nou Camp Posted: 11 Mar 2013 03:41 PM PDT  AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri attends a news conference at Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona March 11, 2013. – Reuters pic BARCELONA, March 12 — AC Milan need only look to last season's Champions League last 16 tie against Arsenal to understand how tough it will be when they visit Barcelona, captain Massimo Ambrosini warned yesterday. Milan travel to the Nou Camp today with a 2-0 advantage from last month's first leg, when they successfully outmaneuvered Lionel Messi and company at the San Siro. However, at the same stage last year Milan romped to a 4-0 victory at home to Arsenal only to suffer a nail-biting second leg as Arsene Wenger's team fought back to lead 3-0 by halftime in London, before the Italians held firm in the second half. "We have a lot to lose," Milan captain Ambrosini told a news conference. "We are in a good position, but that doesn't guarantee us anything in any game. Last year, after the 4-0 against Arsenal in the first leg they almost dumped us out into the street. "We have to make the most of the result we have, and last year was an episode that should serve as experience." Milan also hold the record for the biggest first-leg victory overturned in the Champions League era, losing 4-0 at Deportivo La Coruna in the 2002-2003 quarter-finals, having won 4-1 at home in the first leg. Coach Massimiliano Allegri was not expecting a repeat performance, but still preferred to play his hand as the underdogs. "It would not be a disaster to go out at this stage because no one expected us to arrive here with a two-goal advantage," Allegri said. "Everyone thought it would be an easy ride for Barca. We should forget about the 2-0 in the first leg. Now, two out of three results are good for us." Allegri predicted a similar game to last month's but said his side would need to play much better this time. "They will put us under a lot of pressure, but we will need to be as serene as possible. We know we have to try and score a goal and, if possible two, to feel comfortable," he added. "They are so good at generating chances that when you play against them you have to be very good in defence and much better in attack. "Your percentage possession is so low that the chances to score are very few. "With a little luck and playing the way we know how, we can make it through to the quarter-finals." – Reuters |
| Testing problems no worry for Raikkonen Posted: 11 Mar 2013 08:44 AM PDT
The Finn, the 2007 world champion with Ferrari and third overall last year in his comeback season, was hopeful that Lotus could be strong right from the start despite a lack of laps in testing. "We had some problems in testing but we still completed quite a few laps. Of course, you always want more laps, but it is what it is," Raikkonen (picture) said in a team preview for Sunday's race in Melbourne. "I'm not really concerned about reliability or anything like that as it was the same problem which caused us the biggest problems in testing and we're on top of that now. "You can never be 100 per cent certain of course, but if you look at last season we had problems before the start of the year then we were pretty good when we got to the races." Statistics on the official formula1.com website showed Lotus were 11th out of the 11 teams in terms of test distance completed with 3,527 km compared to Sauber's 5,307 km. Raikkonen, who was unwell for one of the days in Barcelona, was 20th in the individual list of test km covered – with only late signings Jules Bianchi and Adrian Sutil doing less among the race drivers. The Finn was hampered by telemetry issues on his first day in Barcelona, which hosted the second and third tests after the first in Jerez, and was then sidelined for much of the second day by a gearbox problem. Raikkonen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November last year and ended the season with seven podium finishes. He won at Melbourne's Albert Park in 2007 and scored the first points of his career there in 2001. "Hopefully we're fast enough. I don't think there's any area where it feels worse than last year's car; so far everything is better," he said of the new E21. "We had good speed last year, but not enough to win the championship. That means we need more speed this year. If we can get just a little more from the car and keep our consistency, with some better results at the beginning of the year, then we should have a much better chance." While champions Red Bull and Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes have been making most of the headlines, Lotus have been burnishing their title credentials. "They are a good team with quality people and Kimi, now he is back up to full speed, scored points at pretty much every race last year. He could well be a factor this year," Red Bull principal Christian Horner told reporters last week. – Reuters |
MELBOURNE, March 11 – Kimi Raikkonen shrugged off Lotus's pre-season testing problems today and said his new car felt better than last year's going into Formula One's Australian season-opener.| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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