Nava hopeful of Milan upset

Former AC Milan defender Stefano Nava feels Barcelona are the hardest possible Champions League quarter-final opponents for his old club.

The two clubs faced one another in the group stage of the competition earlier this season, with Milan earning a credible 2-2 draw at Barca’s Camp Nou, before succumbing to a 3-2 loss in the return fixture at San Siro.

They were pitted against one another again by Friday’s draw for the final stages of the competition.

Despite acknowledging the size of the task facing Milan, Nava believes the Serie A title holders do have a chance of upsetting the odds.

“Surely this is most difficult draw that could have happened to Milan,” Nava told Goal.com.

“But it’s a cup game, and these games often surprise.”

“Challenging the Barcelona stars will be a great incentive for the players.”

“It would have been nice to compare Milan to other clubs such as Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, but Barcelona came out and I’m excited about the match,” he said.

With reigning European champions Barca and Real drawn in opposite sides of the competition, a final between the fierce La Liga rivals is a distinct possibility.

Nevertheless, Nava does not consider such an all-Spanish decider to be a foregone conclusion.

“There’s no such thing as obvious,” he said.

“I believe a lot in Bayern Munich, but we will need to see how these quarter-finals play out and see what condition the teams reach the semi-finals in.”

Barca and Milan meet at San Siro on March 28, with the return fixture to take place in Catalonia a week later.