New Delhi: Bari returned to the San Siro Stadium, keen to pick up some points as they did in the opening round against the reigning champions Inter. To their credit, they were successful in doing so once again, as they managed to hold the struggling Milan.
Despite their dominant start, the Rossoneri were unable to make the most of their possession in the opening quarter of an hour, with the first significant opportunity of the night falling to their opponents, after a clumsy Massimo Ambrosini fouled Massimo Donati on the edge of the area.
After failing to convert from close range, the Galletti managed to enjoy some possession in their attacking half, however their opponents were to have the next effort on goal, when Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s cut back found Clarence Seedorf, however a lunging Donati challenge was enough to deny the hosts.
The two best chances of the opening half fell to the visitors in the space of just five minutes. Emanuel Rivas firstly saw off the challenge of three Milan opponents, only to see his curling effort narrowly miss the top right corner, before defender Leonardo Bonucci had a header from a few yards out sensationally saved by Marco Storari.
Gennaro Gattuso struck a rare, and hopeful long range effort with a couple of minutes remaining in the first half, however it wasn’t to be for the Milanese outfit, as the two sides remained scoreless at the interval.
Leonardo surprisingly opted not to make any changes at the break, a decision that almost paid dividends, when Ronaldinho found himself on the end of an Andrea Pirlo effort just a few minutes in. The Brazilian's shot on goal was weak though, and easy for the Bari captain Jean-Francois Gillet to collect.
Pirlo and Ronaldinho combined once again, as the Italian saw a powerful free kick well saved by Gillet, before the Brazilian incredibly missed the follow up, despite having the goal at his mercy. The Galletti simply should have scored just moments later through Donati, who sliced an effort from just six yards out.
The result was well and truly in the balance at this point, as the Biancorossi weathered the storm of the Rossoneri, and began to regain control of the match. Barreto and Vitali Kutuzov were consistently posing a threat to the Milan back four, who were desperately struggling with the pace and flare of their opposition.
Substitute Riccardo Meggiorini had the best opportunity to open the scoring for the visitors in the second half, when he was denied by Storari from close range, after a promising counter attack between he and Barreto. Ignazio Abate had the chance to do likewise in the following play, although his attempt was hit straight at Gillet.
The opportunities dried up in the final 10 minutes of play, and that proved to be enough for the dominant side on the night in Bari, to deservedly take a point away from the contest, continuing Milan's woes in the Italian topflight.
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