After a record-breaking start to the season Barcelona have suffered a dip in form and face a stern test of their Champions League credentials against AC Milan tonight as they look to overturn a 2-0 first leg defeat to progress to the quarter-finals.

Barca only dropped two points from their first 19 games in La Liga to open up a sizeable lead at the top of the table but in the last two months chinks have started to show in their armoury, particularly in defence where they hadn’t kept a clean sheet in 13 games in all competitions until Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Deportivo la Coruna.

It is a far cry from Milan’s own form as they notched a 10th league match in a row without defeat as they won 2-0 at Genoa on Friday night.

Much of Barca’s problem has been caused by a failure to pressure with the same intent up the pitch, starting with the forwards, which has allowed the opposition to have more time on the ball and expose their defensive flaws, as was shown clearly in the first leg at the San Siro.

Except for one game against Espanyol in early January, it has been assistant coach Jordi Roura who has been leading the team.Although he is in close contact with Vilanova, it appears as though he lacks the same discipline and strength of character to motivate the players.