The current Champions League holders drew a blank on Italian soil, as both teams failed to break down stubborn defenses in Milan. Barcelona will hold a slight advantage with the second leg at the Nou Camp, but on a night with few chances, Milan will be disappointed it didn’t make it count.

It was a frantic start. Barcelona looked half asleep, as it gifted the ball to Milan in the opening minutes, culminating in a great chance for Boateng, and an even better chance for Robinho, who volleyed over from no more than six yards. But Lionel Messi was beginning to get into his stride, testing Abbiati from the edge of the box and inter-linking nicely with his teammates.

Last year’s winners had a big appeal for a penalty turned down, when Alexis Sanchez was brought down by Abbiati after a neatly worked free-kick, but the referee waved the shouts away. Barcelona was getting on top though, and had a goal disallowed for offside minutes later, when Messi went too early to meet a Dani Alves cross.

Milan wasn’t taking the pressure lying down though, and almost went ahead, as the ex-Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ran through on goal but was denied by Victor Valdes. It was a typically fraught encounter between two attack-minded teams, but the away side definitely had the upper hand, as Milan failed to keep possession regularly enough to pose a threat.

The game was evenly poised as half-time approached, the world champions Barcelona threatened with no end product, whilst Milan had the odd opportunity on the counter-attack, but couldn’t find a route to goal.

The second half started much like the first had ended: Barcelona was doing most of the pressing, but Milan had to make a change when Robinho fell awkwardly and was replaced by El Shaarawy. Guardiola was beginning to grow frustrated by the lack of chances being created, and took Andres Iniesta off for youngster Cristian Tello, in hopes of getting a crucial away goal.

Urby Emanuelson was also thrown into the action with twenty minutes to go, and instead of the game becoming stretched, defenses tightened, as Milan looked even more likely to sit back and soak up the pressure, frustrating Barcelona further, as the 2011 winners failed to find a way through the stubborn defense.

As the clock ticked down, so did the chances of either team grabbing a crucial lead to take back to Spain. Messi came closest, forcing a good save from Abbiati, and Tello was denied by a last ditch block from Ambrosini, with the goal gaping. There were no more clear-cut chances, and the referee brought time on an anti-climactic second half, as both teams prepare to do it all again in Barcelona next week.

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AC Milan put on a clinic at San Siro on Wednesday during a 4-0 win against the English Premier League’s Arsenal, in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League’s round of 16. Arsenal’s inability to setup scoring chances led to the Italian side attacking throughout the entire match, giving AC Milan a comfortable lead going into the second leg of the round.

“We were never in the game, and it was a big shock,” said Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger in a postgame interview.

Tomas Rosicky gave the first scoring attempt to Arsenal, but was unable to make good contact with the shot leading to him missing the net widely. Kevin-Prince Boateng started off the scoring for AC Milan after volleying the ball underneath the crossbar on his first touch in the fifteenth minute of play.

Twenty minutes later, Zlatan Ibrahimovic walked the ball in from the left side of the field and easily crossed the ball to Robinho, who nodded the ball into the bottom right corner to increase AC Milan’s lead to 2-0.

Early substitutions by Arsene Wenger led to Johan Djourou and Thierry Henry coming into the match for Arsenal for the start of the second half. But the changes in the line-up would not effect Arsenal’s attacking ability, leading to Robinho scoring his second goal of the night for AC Milan four minutes into the second half.

Robin van Persie gave Arsenal their only close chance at getting a goal in the match, but AC Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati was able to sprawl out and make the save and protect his clean sheet. Arsenal prevented any chance of coming back from behind when Ibrahimovic was brought down in the box and rewarded a penalty. This led to AC Milan’s fourth and final goal of the night in the 79^th minute of play.

“Our defense was slow to read the game and slow to respond,” said Wenger, “we must regroup and prepare ourselves for the next game.” Arsenal will be hosting AC Milan at the Emirates Stadium on March 6, in the second leg of the tournament between the two teams.

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In a shocking result, Belarusian side BATE Borisov held Italian giants AC Milan to a 1-1 draw in Belarus tonight. While BATE still need a highly unlikely victory from Plzen over Barcelona to keep their hopes of qualifying for the next stage of the tournament alive. The result will have done wonders for morale at BATE, who are the only Belarusian side to ever qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.

Milan made the perfect start to the game, pressuring BATE into several mistakes, and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic came close to breaking the deadlock with several attempts on goal. Aleksandr Gutor, the BATE goalkeeper, did well to deny Ibrahimovic for the first 20 minutes, but was helpless to prevent Ibrahimovic giving Milan the lead in the 22nd minute.

The Swedish striker dispossessed defender Marko Simic, giving the ball to Robinho in the process. The Brazilian then progressed down the flank before returning the ball to Ibrahimovic , which the striker controlled and slotted past the advancing Gutor.

The goal seemed to bolster Milan’s confidence, with the visitors dictating the tempo of the game, and looking to extend their control over the game further. Although it seemed only a matter of time before they extended their lead, BATE was still a threat, and were posing a danger on the counter-attack.

One counter in particular caused anxiety for Milan fans, as Maksim Skavysh almost equalized for his side just a minute after Milan had taken the lead, but his header was saved well by Christian Abbiati. BATE were fortunate to enter the half-time break just one goal behind, as minutes before the interval, Robinho rounded Gutor, but was only able to hit the post with his effort.

With the home fans counting their blessings to have not conceded another goal, BATE manager Viktor Goncharenko had his work cut out instilling some self-belief back into his team before the second half. Whatever Goncharenko said to his side during the break, it seemed to work. With the home side looking in control of the game and pushing hard for an equalizer right from the kick-off.

The encouraged home fans did not have to wait long for their teams effort to be rewarded, and Renan Bressan stroked home a penalty in the 55th minute, after a clumsy foul by Ignazio Abate. With their passionate fans spurring them on, BATE looked to keep control of the game as it entered the final 30 minutes.

All seemed to go to plan for BATE, as they defended well, and even came close to taking the lead in what would have been an extraordinary victory for the Belarusian side. Despite being unable to take all three points, they will congratulate themselves on one of the greatest results in the club’s relatively short history.

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