Chelsea 1 Barça 1 (1-1 aggregate - Barça win on away goals)

The English press and Chelsea are complaining and bitching about the referee . Barça got very little luck the last two years despite dominating both Liverpool and Manchester United . This time the better team won . Deal with it !!

Nice review.

Just one thing: Michael Essien's goal reminded me a lot more of Zidane's astonishing strike against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the CL Final 02.

i say keita gets a 5, and a 4.5 is a little harsh on alves. eto'o was completely anonymous. barca is going to half to learn to press the ball, we are way to patient and slow. and manchester is going to play exactly as chelsea did, except they have world class wingers that can run our defense. malouda is shit, rooney and ronaldo is gonna be tough. i fully expect manu to play a 7-0-3, look for a mistake/setpiece and pack two lines of defenders and mids behind the ball. Barca's game dictates that we string 12+ moves together to create a good chance. i am not saying we abandon the possession game, but a little more directness will be the only way to beat manchester.

i've been eager to read this post, Nic.. i'm almost not capable of writing this short comment. so exstatic.

we didn't play well tonight (so obvious we were missing Puyol and Titi), but you have to give credit for the guys' spirit. terrific.
as i see it, Chelski were robbed from two penalties - the one where Alves brings down Malouda, and the one with Pique's handball. so i understand chelskis frustration.

but if you look at it over two games i think we deserve it. we made the game at camp nou.

one last thing: what's you guys' view on Abidal's sending off? as i see it, Anelka trips over him self, so not even a free kick should've been awarded.

2 phenomenal games in a week...just can't blv it...after watchin the madrid game, i thot I wouldn't see another game like that in my life..but i felt 10 times happier today when iniesta scored..and Special mention to Valdes, Pique, and Toure...I don't think Valdes had a better game...and Pique and Toure played with their hearts..

Let's enjoy this moment guys...Viva Barca..

Thank god for all football fans Barca went through. I am overjoyed that negativity did not triumph tonight.
As an ardent Celtic fan I love watching free flowing football and Barca are miles ahead of anyone this season. Unfortunately the lack of money in the Scottish League means that getting into the group stages of the Chmpions League is a triumph, but both clubs history is dedicated to attractive football and we have a special affinity with the Barca supporters. I was fortunate enough to enjoy the Catalan hospitality at last seasons in the last 16 of the CL and was made most welcome.

Man Utd will provide worthy opposition and , hopefully a final to remember with Barca lifting the trophy once more. When you have Messi nothing is out of your reach
All the best
Andy McCafferty
Glasgow

supeeeeerrbbbbb....what a moment and what a way to score. Absolutely delighted that we're in the final.
Thumbs up to Barsa for reaching the final. Damn, i was feeling so nervy watching this game.

This is exactly what i felt about the game.

1- the ref made too many an error..very poor judgement.

2-Chelsea played a tiny bit better then what they did at the Nou Camp.

3-Messi should have tried much harder with his solo's which could have led towards either a goal,a penalty, or a chelsea defender being booked.

4- we should have slowed down with the crosses and focus in swift attacks through the middle.

5- where was ETO?? Was he ever involved?? Correct me if i'm wrong.

6- 'wonderIniestrike' and that's what i call a perfect heartbreaking moment for Chelsea.

on a lower note...i'm fine with Abidal not participating in the final. I would rather Puyol as left back. However, i'm worried about our defence during the final.
Whose gonna take the right back? Whose gonna be Pique's partner in the middle?? I don't quite like the idea of Toure as our make shift centre back. i prefer him in his usual role in midfield.

Where is Gabi?? Still injured or has he been sold??
We should look in2 deploying Caseras in the coming games and trying to get Hleb and Bojan more minutes. They could be great options for us upfront and in defence.

INIESTA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "THE HEARTBREAK KID".

"NEVER GIVE UP" !

Last but not least....i love this site, i love you people and i love FC BARCELONA. Let's gun down the treble!!!!

What a MAGICAL MOMENT! TRULY AMAZING ! HEARTS OF CHAMPIONS ! NEVER SAY DIE... "NEVER GIVE UP" !

I AM SO PROUD TO BE JUST A HUMBLE FAN OF SUCH A BEAUTIFUL TEAM AND FAN BASE !

THANK YOU ALL OF YOU, OUR WILL PREVAILED !

I love Barcelona FC

Can some kind soul please upload this game in sky sports broadcast with the views of the panelist and post match interviews.
Appreciate it.
Best regards.

PS from what I can see it looks like Barca are through I don't know the result.
I can now watch this game in peace knowing Barca have gone through, God bless you all and who ever provides me with a link preferably in English commentary sky sports 2 if possible.

I really want to see the post match interview and the panelist comments.

@ Nic- Pique deserve 9 coz he was more than a rock in that defence. We actually were FORCED to end up with a ONE MAN DEFENCE and Pique was just excellent. Just see how he had to even move forward to support the defensive midfield. As for the english press and the blues, the story goes;... SO AND SO AND SO, AND THE BETTER SIDE WON. Ha Ha Ha Ha! Barca for TREBLE!

great game...for me toure and iniesta were equal man of the match. I still dont know how you can give toure a 6.5 rating. Playing in this position for the first time all season he handled drogba so well. I think if puyol was there instead drogba would have had a field day with the strength he showed against toure yet, drogba forgot the toure is our berlin wall

Oh my god, My voice has almost gone. I was in a pub watching the match with about 6 other people who were at the same table with me and they did'nt support either team but when Iniesta hit the back of the net everyone of us jumped up and started screaming at the big screen at the top of our voices, it was an unbelievable end to the match and I am absolutely delighted!!!!!!

After half time I said to everyone that I would'nt mind getting knocked out by a superb volley that Essien executed, there is nothing you can do about a strike like that only to sit back and agree that it was unbeliveable. Well at least thats what I thought untill I seem Drogba dive around the pitch like a little BITCH, pardon my language but that is exactly what he was like. He is meant to be one of the biggest and most powerfull strikers in Europe but someone FARTS near him he drops to the ground crying like a baby.... He really pisses me off!!! And after Abidal got sent off for nothing I said to myself that I don't care how Barca do it but they better beat these little pile of nancy boys no matter what it takes!

Granted I believe that they should of had one penalty but we should of had one in the Camp Nou last week so these things even themselves out.

Nothing can pardon Drogba for the way he acted after the game.

Does anybody agree with me that Alves had an absolute disgrace of a match his crossing was absolutely terrible and he should of done an awfull lot better with them.. I thought at one stage when he tried to cross a ball he was trying to kick the ball back to the Camp Nou it was that high Ha Ha It does'nt matter now because we are in the final and thats all that matters.

BARCA BARCA BARCA!!!!!!!!!!

Barca 4life!!!!!

man that was close, real close, but iniesat came through

Alves was a little to erratic for my taste in thsi game in both his play and attitude. That sending off of Abidal was harsh and chelsea could/should have sealed the deal then.
But Iniesta came through and we are off to Rome.

Quick Analysis

Ref - terrible...and yes the piquet handball probabl was a penalty. But the malouda foul was more playacting by him than anything alves really did. But the ref blew the whistle so I guess that too was confusing.

Chelsea - played well and could not capitalize on their play. That first goal was even a shock to essien, 1 in a million shot, but he struck it so props.
Barca players
Etoo- was tightly marked and really had no service
Messi -seemed frustrated all night
Xavi- hmm unspectacular but serviceable
Sergio B.- I'm not sure this kid deserves a starting job
Alves- terrible game, not one decent cross, spent more time arguing and chasing back into defense. He has to realize that some games he will actually have to stay in defense for a while
Piquet- solid game
Keita - eh neither here nor there( I think Gudjohnsen would have been a better call up)
Toure - Solid
Abidal- solid until the questionable red
Valdes -solid
Iniesta - excellent

ANDRES INIESTA YOU ARE A FUCKING LEGEND.

guys..... I LOVE THE REF......YES HE SUCKED BUT HE DIDNT GIVE LIKE 2-3 PENS FOR US.....

BUT I LOVE INIESTA MORE

I want to give a 'Salud' to Chelsea who played a good match. It was more what I expected from Chelsea, and I had no problems with their tactics. At just 9' Essien made the most of his opportunity, which was a minor blow for us. The next was losing a man when Abidal received a red card. I wasn't giving up until that whistle blew, but in injury time it was looking mighty slim. Then came Iniesta's shot. Santa Maria.

Lots to debate about in the match, but we're going to Rome. It was really difficult, but somehow the Blaugrana did it.

hey man....hey guyz...what happened this....is it dream...how is it possible??its dream....nooooooo......its not.............we r on final......

i just wanna ask u how u guyz felt at 66 min(during abidal red card) and 91 mins...were ur nerve going down....specifically @Diatus...hey man wht u doing those moments....

Barca made all the sky red....!!!

First congrats cules for the precious win away


thnks an awful lot Andres !!! as Xavi u are always the great .


The prob is that will Alves miss the final match ???


what about the new modifications that doesn't take in consideration the semifinal yellow cards ???

What I witnessed tonigth is that our midfield was suffering a lot with Xavi alone since Keita an dBusquets weren't that efficient .


i tols all the mates and enemies (madrid fans) who were wtahcing the game with us that Iniesta should get back to the midfield to help Xavi and block Chelseas sudden attacks. I really was expecting Pep to push Bojan in bu surprised he went on esp after the sending off of Abi .But it really came true when Bojan came just before the last 10 mns .iniesta did a great job with Xavi and managed to lead us to Rome ;


congrats everybody ; )


Visca Barça


Itri

I abandoned my team today, just couldn't cope with the nerves, i had to leave at 20min of the 1st half. So i feel bad about it..
I think we needed a game like this when we suffer to get the result.. chelsea were extremly lucky with that goal, but defended well, which is what they do. But they lack of that different player, the one who can make the difference..and we have at least 4 of them. And man utd have their own as well. And chelsea don't so, are they going to blame a ref for that? Is he the one to blame because drogba were diving over 180 minutes and then couldn't finish a clear chance?
We are passing trough because our team is young, passionate for the team not for the money, because they now how to suffered and know how to play football..
Also, remember when we had Deco, that most of the refs wouldn't buy when he was fouled because of his tendency to dive.. well, that same thing happened to chelsea before. If you play anti-football, if you dive, at some point that will cost you (it WILL to man utd..it WILL). If they played some football instead of whining (funny they accused us of doing that just seven days ago, but i don't recall our players hiting the ref like they did today.. that should be studied by the UEFA) then they might have won. But they lost focus. And we won. Deal with it!

An awesome game.

I'm on the football365 forums now defending Barca!

VISCA BARCA!

Enjoy your day/night Cules!

LINK

guys, there are just too much things are wanna say....that i cant remember any right now

i just love barca
the game reminds me of 2005 when valdes was held back.....i'm not surprised at d way d game panned out cos i've bn stressing seriously abt d size of their stadium....a very small stadium like that is really to our disadvantage cos it allows energetic teams like chelsea to attack with pace and little movement while also being able to maintain their 'park the bus' shape....that stadium shouldnt b allowed in europe, but since we were destined to go thru, nobody could have stop us

iniesta is really staking a claim for the awards that have almost been handed to messi, i cant blame any of our forwards for the poor performances over the 2 legs cos as the commentator on my tv said, even pele/maradona did not fly with the ball into the opponents post which was the only solutn possible for messi n co against the best def/def mids in the world in the tinniest place possible

the only point i remeba now is that pep REALLY should have altered things earlier, coulda brought on gudjohnsen or something

nyways, UP BARCA
next up after our spanish battles is manu, how big is the olimpico stadium????hope its not small enough for rooney to tackle messi in 1 sec and score a goal in the next

To win an any championship you need to be good and have a little luck. Tonight it was our turn. Let Chelsea fans complain all they want. We were/are/and always will be better than them. We beat them with 10 men.

As far as Drogba, let him complain, cry, and dive in the box all he wants. He couldn't even take advantage of easy goal scoring opportunity last game nor this game.

Have faith my friends, we will be Champions of Europe!

Long live Barca, Long live Barca fans!!!

my family lives in rome so im probably going to end up going to the finals. the olimpico stadium field is the same size as the camp nou, i just checked it...105 meters by 68 meters.

I almost got an heart attack when I saw Iniesta goal!

well now that some of the excitement can go on, we can look at the game more critically.

we had a rather poor game, and chelsea i thought had quite an excellent one. great defense but they did attack a lot. they had SO many chances. drogba did very well fighting for the ball and malouda had a great game. but im not going to go overboard giving them praise because we can just say that this was karma for being so ridiculously negative in spain. its just justice overall.

and yes, VV is getting some of the praise he deserves because he kept us in this game. never again do i want to hear the words, "he never saves us in big games". never. and toure was so legendary!!!! his last ditch tackles, wrestling drogba and then slidding in with a SICK tackle, then running back and putting anelka off!! so amazing. and pique ran and ran and ran. in defense, tried to build up the midfield, eventually playing center forward. i love this kid.

on the poor, KEITA, he was simply awful. he doesnt pass well, doesnt tackle well, he just does basically nothing. i dont think busquets should get an critcism, he is 20 yrs old and put into a tough tough sitution, considering i thought he did just fine.

but i felt that putting yaya in the defenes killed our midfield, we lost so much power. and i will now forever admit iniesta is WAY better in the mid as TITI has been saying a while. i hope for the final yaya is NOT in CB, despite him doing valiantly today. his contribution in the midfield is far more important.

the ref, yes he sucked. no doubt. on the penalties, really, i give one of them at most. def not the malouda one, he just lets his legs go once he hits the box, so obvious. the one of drogba maybe, but his rep preceeded him, and pique, it looked ball to hand, but i wouldnt have felt chepated if given.

BUT, these things NEVER happen to barca. being the worse team and winning in the 93rd? barca? never. we got a piece of united luck tonight

and having some united style luck once every few decades, i can live with.

suppose we can look to the final a bit now. the defense has too options i rate.

puyol, yaya, pique, slyvinho
caceres, pique, puyol, slyinvho.

i can argue pros and cons for both, but overall i think id go for the second. i think losing yaya in teh midfield is way too big a loss and united attack far more on teh right so i think caceres can handle the left. pep needs to decide quite soon and if i was him, caceres would play teh rest of the liga matches, he needs to start experimenting with the defense and using the one he will in rome.

lastly, lon-a-barca, COMPLETELY agree with ur sentiments on drogba. he is a pathetic man and i hope he cried all night last night. his diving and acting is PATHETIC. he actually had such a good game but because of all that acting i feel no remorse for him.

Goals and highlights .
LINK

Chelsea can say what they want about referee, they can say they had six clear penalties I don't care.

To me they are wrong, when last week game referee was not good to Barça, which I think he had some mistakes specially when it comes to yellow cards and one red, they said take it like a man Barça players and fans, it's the game. And now I am saying to them: "Take it like a man, you had your chances and you did not take them.".

When team is so focus on defending even when opponent is one man short and when their players instead looking to score a goal, when they are virtually one on one with goalkeeper, they looking how to fall to get penalty. I say they get what they deserve.

And I am really disappointed by Chelsea about all this talk about referee and penalties, instead they are suppose too talk about their missed chances. But never mined, they will talk about for same time and then they will figured it out they got their self to blame and nobody else. And I think that we could talk about referees too, what about game in 2005 I think, when Colina was referee, and offcourse last weeks game they had some very questionable decisions.

Now about the game, when Essien scored goal I thought the game against ManU is repeating itself again, but I still believed that we will score a goal. Then came the red card for Abidal I thought that game is over and Chelsea will score at least one more goal, specially when cameras showed Pepe, he looked kinda lost, I thought this is it. But they continued to intensively defend and they missed their chances I just kept hoping that we have to punish them for that, and then came Iniesta's magical shot and goal. At first I just could not believe it and then I started to celebrate.

To me Pique was man of the match he defended, attacked and did everything else except goalkeeping for that we had Valdes. Great saves and great reactions I hope that this will prove to everybody that he is capable to play for Barça.

About other players.
Iniesta scored a magnificent goal but still to me it was a little poor game from him. Specially when it comes to dribbling, he just did it too much.
Messi had a good game, there was always at least three players from Chelsea so he did as much as he could.
Eto'o was almost invisible.
Toure did excellent job as central defender, specially when you take to consideration that it was his fist time.
Abidal was good to me.
Alves was horrible, thank God he got yellow card and he will not play in finals. Bad in defence mediocre in attack. Specially when it comes to croses, and this problem is evident for some time.
Busquets was OK, he looked a little frightened. He could play a lot better, but all in all it was OK.

so, after having analyzed the game on the second time watching it I feel in better position to say something intelligible.

at first i thought we got owned in this game. but, after watching it again, we weren't that bad. we were really taking it to them until the Essien strike. about that, what can you say...freaking amazing: much worse things to lose to. that took us out of it some, but we still were dominating possession.

further, we were possessing it deep in their area but we saw no good chances come of this. i think the problem was two-fold: first, we lost our patience; second, Dani Alves' crosses were wretched (that's kind of part of number 1).

maybe it was going down a goal or the fact that we were playing against the English, but we always seemed to try to force a cross or a long through ball. Xavi, Alves, and Messi were all guilty of this...most days Xavi can pull it off and earlier in the season i would have bet my life on an Alves cross.

but today too many of his crosses were hit when the box was flooded with Chelsea players, though, so even if they would have been good crosses (which they weren't) it would have been an uphill battle to beat Chelsea in the air.

also, Messi was okay, but he needed to copy Iniesta a bit more. it's hard to think of a time when Chelsea actually took the ball off his feet. when he dribbled, the worst that happened was a drop to Xavi (not a bad move, in my book). usually it was more dangerous. but too often he looked to make a difficult cross when he got some space instead of taking on the defender. and going 1 on 1 is exactly where he thrives.

Busquets: not terrible...but not really bringing much to the table.

Eto'o: where was he? he didn't get the ball much, but he turned it over a lot when he did. never really looked dangerous.

Yaya: can't complain. he played a different position in a huge game against a skilled player and got the best of him.

Xavi: okay, but okay isn't good enough for the man running the team.

Xavi (cont): just needed more quality on some of his potential assists.

Pique: i love this guy. i wonder if Sir Alex is second guessing himself.

Iniesta: he's seriously a balla. clutch shot. prevented depression for millions (but caused it for only a few hundred, because not that many people can really like Chelsea that much). but he leaves a huge void in the midfield when he's not there. Titi is dead on about that. our team is better with him in the middle.

Kieta: it's not so much what he is but what he's not that hurts us. sure, he doesn't screw up a lot, but he doesn't give us a spark. he doesn't throw that overhead kick and instead tries some silly spinning volley...he's no Iniesta in that position.

Abidal: if it weren't for the red card, I might of forgot he was playing. which is okay for our left back, in my opinion.

Valdes: if not for Valdes, we lose both games.

we're going to Rome...and we have all the La Liga games to use as prep for our make-shift back line.

about drogba: "this is a f@cking disgrace!" are u serious, dude? someone should force him to watch a compilation of all his diving and rolling on the grass and then ask him who's really disgracing football. that sort of thing is going to kill football in the long run.

and ae is right. after last week all i read was about "Barca crying because Chelsea was too good"; we were just supposed to live with the reffing because that's how it is.

well, I don't think Chelsea is into taking their own medicine. say what you want, but over the two legs I don't think the refs did us any favors...it evens out in the end.

all that being said, we didn't give up and we kept believing, a true quality of champions.

BARÇA BARÇA BARÇA!!!

Unbelievable....I was in London last night because I missed my connection coming out of Madrid But my useless concierge was unable to find me tickets last night. So, I instead flew home this morning and got home exactly at half time...this is great!!! THIS IS LUCK nothing else. We are good but luckier, there's none. My wife thought that I was crazy running around the yard because AFTER an 8 hours flight, I managed to find enough energy to just go crazyyyyyyyy!!!!
I am tired but happy,
I am tired but happy,
I am tired but unbelievably happy,
I am tired but I am F*****G HAPPPPYYYY!!!

It is all worth it:the long trips, the mean Madrid fans,etc.

Now,I pity Villareal but still guarded regarding Bilbao on the CUP.

Blaugrana, I will give Valdes his props...why the fuck can't he play like this consistantly...then I would never utter a word against him.YES, he had a good game.

I just wished someone has listened to ME during Xmas break and brought in an extra centerback...We need it now.

WOW, Let's all enjoy this one. We will beat United...without a doubt,you heard it here first!!!!

come on guyz.....i am really tired of watching the stupidity of english football fan....the play stupid..talk stupid.....
today i got a friend in library and how stupid he talking....i asked for proof ..but he is incredible...
he says ur wonder boy messi even din hav a shot in goal u say him best...he only scores in poor la laga...i asked him to look at leading scorer in CL..if he is so cheap...how did that?
he says we bought referee....well...then wht abt the penalty we could get in leg1...
he says..even newcastle can be second in la liga...well...then if ur teams in EPL are so good why MAN U is everywhere...carling cup...CL..EPl..where are ur other good teams....why liverpool..arsenal..chelsea get noithing....

i was really tired of his stupid talking without logic....this is the fact i have to accept as i am living in England... i have no support here...so writing and sharing here
they are loooooosers now they are crazy...
anyway.....

Barca!!!Messi!!!Grt!!!

Sorry but I did NOT see any crystal clear penalties last night . Both Drogba and Anelka took a dive TWICE . That takes care of four claims . The ball hit Pique on the hand not the other way around . It was NOT an intentional hand ball . It was ball to hand not hand to ball . The last claim was simply the ball hitting Eto'o under the armpit . No penalty there either . The tackle on Malouda was borderline . So Chelsea, fans , you lost so deal with it !!

@neuro11

Dont worry about the Enlgish, I live in London so i know exactly what you mean. There is nobody more ingorant, self involved and blind as the EPL supporter. They are bombarded day after day with stories of their superiority over every other league. All the commentators and pundits on TV are basically salemen for the EPL and are paid a lot of money to sell the EPL as the "best". Most of these English fans dont watch anything other than EPL football and yet they claim to know they are better? How do they know? Because they are told, and they dont argue, they dont try and judge for themselves by watching Spanish, Italian or German football, they just believe. They will always, always be sore losers, they will NEVER take it on the chin and they will NEVER admit when a non english team is simply better. Always an excuse always an injustice.

Dont let it get it to you. Enjoy the moment, because i can guarantee you if they had won in this way they would be enjoying it and they would be lauding how "brave" they were. They are a joke and i sincerely hope we beat Utd. Then they really can all suck it....

UP UP UP BARCA BARCA BARCA,
We have reach a great step and we can do alot do in Rome to Scatter Manutd in the final, may God wish us a better success in ROME on 27 may 09.
I would like to send my congratulation message to all FCB fans around the world.

Here is an interesting but an objective point of view about the referee .
LINK

Would it be possible to overturn Alves's yellow card and Abidals red card?

Because as i see it Alves jumped to get the ball and got a card.

And then the 'phantom' challenge on Anelka, Abidal didn't touch him and Toure was there to help stop Anelka, but Anelka trips and Abidal gets a red. Shameful!

Both Sylvinho and Caceras should be used in the remaining la liga games, in order to get match practice and confidence, as they'll be required to play in the final...

Well, the ref indeed had a horrible game. Didn't see a clear handball of ballack and then he left us with no wings for the final. So yes, he was bad.
But i think that the problem with chelsea is, and it is something nodoby in england will recognise because it's a general problem in their teams, that they do not know how to play football with the ball in the ground. In that matter, there is no difference between them and everton, bolton, west ham, etc. We got at least 5 players capable of controlling and cooling off a game. And our goal was pure football.
If you watch them in EPL, they have won crucial games being louder than the rival, influencing refs and diving, but when face a side with football (man utd, arsenal) they have problems. So if they don't want to see that, and keep over-rating players like terry and lampard, it's their problem!. I'm sorry, but that kind of players don't win a CL, they would win a FA Cup, but not a CL. Players like Tevez, Ronaldo, Messi, Iniesta, Henry and Eto'o would.
Maybe they should stick to it, to win in England. Because they cannot expect that teams in Europe will all be like Fulham. I think they should know that after losing 5 semifinals.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Iniesta is better than Ronaldo and Kaka . He is IMO the second best player in the world just behind Messi . I'm NOT talking about goal tally here . I'm talking about quality and overall influence on the game . I would NOT be surprised if he finished second or third in the FIFA P.O.Y. !!

Yes, now is the time to analyse the game without the neighbours banging on the wall because of my shouting...

The defense: Pique and Yaya were immense. Yaya did not look comfortable in all honesty, but his tackling was world-class and he and Pique were class. Abidal was solid untill the debateable red. Alves was utter poor. He did one good cross all night. when he did I saud to someone next to me "ONE GOOD CROSS ALL NIGHT HE HAS BEEN FUKIN SHT", 10 seconds later, messi retrieve the ball and then the Iniesta goal... how football can change in the blink of an eye.

Midfield: Very average. Without Yaya offering the power to get past the opposition AMC, and Iniesta to offer a short outlet to Xavi, we struggled. Iniesta in midfeild offers Xavi a distraction and someone to get past their man so Xavi can run riot in midfeild. Check the Real Madrid game, every Xavi pass usually came from an Iniesta or Yaya touch/pass. Against Man United the midfeild will be back together so I dont worry about yesterdays lack of creativity.

Front Line: Bar Iniesta's goal, we struggled to play well. Messi was again marked by 3 men which meant he was struggling. Eto was anonomous and has been very poor in the two legs. Iniesta tried but he is far more effective in midfeild where hopefully he will kill Manchester. For the first time, I think people will realise how much the attack needs Henry now. He has raw pace which spreads the play. He has the brain of Messi and can score, and I have a feeling he will be crucial against Manchester united.

All in all, no one can complain about reaching the final no matter how Barca got there!! Lets keep everyone fit, and look forward to a mouth watering tie in Rome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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