Milan a big team, says Barca´s Bertomeu

Barcelona vice-president Josep Maria Bertomeu insists the club are wary of AC Milan ahead of their Champions League showdown.

The four-time winners and Milan will do battle for a place in the quarter-finals, with the first leg of their tie to be held at the San Siro on January 20.

Last season, Barcelona faced Milan both in the group stage and quarter-finals, when two goals from Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou guided Barca to the last four with a 3-1 aggregate win.

“The draw means we will play against Milan again,” Bertomeu said.

“It’s a really big team in Europe, we respect them.

“Milan didn’t start the season well but they are improving too much, so they are going to be ready for the qualifiers.

“We will try to keep our level.”

Bertomeu gave some indication of when Tito Vilanova could be back in the dugout after the manager had an operation on his parotid gland on Thursday.

Vilanova will now start six weeks of chemotherapy in his second battle with cancer.

“The doctors will tell when and it depends on the evolution after surgery,” Bertomeu said.

“We said yesterday, in our medical release, it would be five or six weeks, so it’s likely he can be ready in that time.”