Barcelona reached their second Champions League final in three years on Tuesday after a 1–1 draw at home in the pouring rain against archrival Real Madrid. The Catalans won the two-match semifinal 3–1 in aggregate after their resounding 2–0 win at the Bernabeu last Wednesday.
Barcelona will face either Schalke or Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, England on May 28. Schalke and Manchester United contest the second leg of their Champions League semifinal at Old Trafford on Wednesday with the English side holding a commanding 2–0 lead.
This “El Clasico” was the fourth meeting in 18 days for the two clubs. Both clubs were coming off defeats last weekend in La Liga play. Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho was banned from the touchline due to his part in last week’s debacle, and Aitor Karanka, his second in command, took charge of the squad.
After the controversial first match, which was spared from being labeled a complete disaster by Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, the two giants of Spanish football focused on football instead of theatrics and grudges.
Real started well realizing that they needed to win by two goals. But Barcelona gradually took control and the team in white had to resort to fouling the football wizard Messi to slow him down.
In fact, Real Madrid committed 30 fouls to Barcelona’s 10. They were also booked five times. Central defender Ricardo Carvalho lived dangerously after picking up a quick yellow card for a foul on Messi. Lassana Diarra was a human wrecking ball in the Madrid midfield.
The scoreless first half was a tale of Messi against Real Madrid’s excellent goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Casillas proved equal to all of Messi and company’s threats. He came up with a brilliant leaping save to stone David Villa in the 34th minute and hung on to Messi’s hard low right-footed drive in the 37th minute.
Barcelona was truly the better team and they were rewarded in the 54th minute when Andres Iniesta threaded a clever pass to Pedro who sent a left-footer past Casillas. It was a classic Barcelona goal where the striker runs onto a perfectly timed pass from an onside position.
Kaka got the start for Real Madrid but was ineffective as Barcelona’s midfield dominated the match. He was substituted in the second half for Mesut Ozil. He had seen limited action all season long and his confidence has to be at an all-time low.
Down 3–0 on aggregate, Real Madrid faced a mountain but could take some solace from the play of Marcelo. The left back has been a revelation this year and he equalized for the visitors 10 minutes after Pedro’s opener.
Argentine winger Angel Di Maria struck a fierce blast that rung off the post. He collected his rebound and squared the ball to Marcelo who converted past Victor Valdes.
But Barcelona was never truly in danger and their form of defense is ball possession. A touching moment came in stoppage time when fullback Eric Abidal made his entry for Barcelona.
The French defender had recovered from a cancerous tumor on his liver and received support from fans and players around the world during his recovery. At the end of the match, his fellow players tossed him up in the air repeatedly.
“I have never experienced this before. I can sense that the people love me and I love them too and will try to do my best for them on the pitch, as always,” Abidal told Barca TV after the match.
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