Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Barcelona reaches Champions League final

Barcelona reaches the Champions League final, after a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid on Tuesday completed a 3-1 aggregate win. Played in Nou Cam As in the first leg, Barcelona dominated a defensive Madrid, which was without banned coach Jose Mourinho for the match at the Camp Nou Stadium, but the second leg provided a far more absorbing contest than the first. Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas kept the visitors in touch with a number of superb saves from Lionel Messi in the first half and would have been back in the tie had Gonzalo Higuain's not been disallowed at the start of the second half.Barcelona lead after Pedro gathered Iniesta's pass alone inside the area before beating Casillas with a low, left-footed shot. Meanwhile Madrid could rise up when Xabi Alonso fed Di Maria in the 64th. Di Maria broke into the area and beat Victor Valdes but not the near post, although the ball bounced right back to the Argentina forward to slide a short pass over to Marcelo for the equalizer.As Barcelona looked to close out the game, Guardiola brought on Eric Abidal in the 90th minute for his first appearance since undergoing surgery to remove a liver tumor in March.  Barcelona possible will against Manchester United which leads Schalke in the first leg semifinal.The final itself will takes place at Wembley on May 28.  

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