We've made it through the first legs of the 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League semi-finals and the picture is shaping up to be a Manchester United v FC Barcelona final, a re-match of the 2009 final match where Barcelona knocked off the then defending champions Manchester United.
Manchester United looked quite comfortable against Schalke 04, who never really threatened Edwin Van der Sar's goal. Schalke, the surprise semi-finalists, had a huge backing at home, but came out flat as Manchester United established their tempo early on. With that said, Schalke were still able to keep matters level at 0-0 at half-time although Manchester United should have gone ahead a few times. The 2nd half brought upon more United pressure until Schalke's defense finally gave to Ryan Giggs who put through a splendid through ball from Wayne Rooney. Manchester United wasted no time in ensuring their result as within a few minutes Wayne Rooney would find the back of the net this time courtesy of a precise cut pass from Hernandez.
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| Wayne Rooney puts through United's 2nd goal. |
United's 2 goal away win makes the thought of progression more of a dream now for Schalke as they will have to travel to Old Trafford and score 3. However, we've seen the impossible occur in the tournament time and time again so with United still holding a slight edge in the Premier League, their concentration may be pushed. Sir Alex Ferguson is a man all too familiar with this stage and I wouldn't bet for such a collapse to occur under his rein.
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| Schalke GK Neuer was exceptional despite allowing 2 goals. |
In the other semi-final, FC Barcelona traveled to the Santiago Bernabéu to face off against long time rivals Real Madrid CF who had just captured the Copa Del Rey courtesy of Barcelona. Early on the match was a very tight one with Real applying their defensive tactics to perfection. As expected, tensions were high throughout the match with players constantly coming together during challenges. The first half finished 0-0 with Real Madrid presumably having an edge as they came closer to scoring then Barcelona, who were feeling frustrated as Pepe had done an effective job marking Lionel Messi.
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| Messi puts Barcelona ahead. |
The 2nd half would start with more of the same and Barcelona were off on their attack. Midway through Pepe would receive a straight red for a controversial challenge that replays would show not being severe and possibly nothing. Nevertheless his expulsion put a dent in José Mourinho's game plan and the Real Madrid manager would also find himself sent off into the stands for protesting the decision. With Real Madrid now left to 10 players on the pitch, Barcelona quickly took advantage and substitute Ibrahim Affelay would beat Marcelo to send in a cross which met the feel of Lionel Messi to put the visitors ahead. Moments later, a tired and destroyed Madrid defense, who were now under the realization of being without Pepe and Sergio Ramos (received 2nd yellow) for the 2nd leg, were torn apart by an incredible solo run from Lionel Messi who put the Catalan's up 2-0 and thus destroying Real Madrid's dream of reaching the final.
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| Mourinho & Guardiola did not shake after the match. |
FC Barcelona is once again in line for a Champions League final. The tensions between the 2 sides have only grown with the end of this match. Mourinho's comments sensed that he was extremely disappointed with the officiating of the match and may come back to haunt him if UEFA's decides to take action of his remarks.
"Congratulations to Barcelona", he added. "But I just do not understand why Barcelona always receive the help of the referee. All my life I will be asking myself this question, and one day I hope to receive an answer."
"I am not too sad, I have a great family. But I don't understand why Barcelona have this power. It happened two years ago to Chelsea (in the 2009 semi-finals), almost to my Inter last year, and also to Arsenal this year."
''Why do the opponents of Barcelona always have a man sent off? Where does this power come from? Maybe it is to give more publicity to UNICEF, maybe because of the power of (Spanish federation president Jose Angel) Villar in UEFA.''
- José Mourinho
Pep Guardiola avoided responding to Mourinho directly, but did managed to take a few shots at Madrid.
"We came here with 12 players coming from our youth academy, we're proud of that fact," Guardiola said. "We corrected some things we did bad in the Cup [Copa del rey] final."
''We played a very good game, team was very aggressive, we won a lot of duels, [Seydou] Keita helped us a lot. We're now 90 minutes away from Champions League final and we're trying to get there.''
''We fought well and had a good result. Now it is up to the second game,'' he said. "It's always the same, they [Real Madrid] didn't want to play at football, at their own stadium. They play at the limit of violence. If you play with fire, you can end up burning.''
- Pep GuardiolaRest-assured that although Barcelona hold a 2 goal advantage that the 2nd leg at the Camp Nou will be a fiery affair. Be sure to tune in, but as things stand right now, we're looking at a Manchester United v FC Barcelona final at the Wembley Stadium.
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| Manchester United will be looking for redemption if this shapes out. |
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