UEFA Champions League Draw Result
The UEFA Champions League draw for the season of 2010/11 has been concluded. Check out the complete list after the jump.
Cruyff’s Corner: Winning without wanting the ball
We hoped for, we needed, the best Barca but it didn’t happen. Inter turned out to play exactly how we had imagined: they played and advanced to the final without wanting the ball. Ever.
Eto’o: “The fans were a 10″
Yesterday was the second time that Samuel Eto’o had returned to the Camp Nou since his departure last summer. The Barca fans took the time to applaud him, even after the game was over. Due to his total dedication to the blaugrana, he’ll always be thought of fondly by most supporters. Speaking in the post-match press conference, Eto’o talked about his feelings during the game.
Guardiola: “We have to pick ourselves up”
Fresh off FC Barcelona’s elimination from the Champions League by Inter Milan last night, coach Pep Guardiola in a break from his usual statements – match analysis – first and foremost wanted to convey his gratitude for the fans’ support.
Luis Figo to join Mourinho on the Inter bench again
Catalan news site El Mundo Deportivo reported that in the press conference on the night before the return leg of the Champions League semifinal match against FC Barcelona, Inter coach Jose Mourinho confirmed that Luis Figo, who is now Inter’s ambassador, will once again be seated on the bench during the game.
In the precious match, the ex-Barcelona player, turned ‘public enemy number one’ for his perceived ‘defection’ to arch-rivals Real Madrid in 2000, could be seen standing and making comments to the fourth official during the game.
The Comeback mission: 2 Goals to reach Madrid
From FC Barcelona’s official Youtube Channel.
Guardiola: “We just have to be ourselves”
Pep Guardiola appeared before the media the day before the biggest game of the season for FC Barcelona, where he stressed that to win the tie, the team has to maintain its character. The coach also said that they are counting down the hours with as much calm as they are able to muster.
Sneijder trained normally
Spanish news agency EFE today reports that Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder’s injury seems to have dissipated as the player was seen training with his teammates, indicating that coach Jose Mourinho will have the option of playing him against FC Barcelona tomorrow night.
Referee Frank De Bleeckere in the hotseat for Barcelona – Inter
The polarizing debates about the performance of referees in FC Barcelona’s Liga and Champions League encounters have been some of the intriguing subtexts of this season. And Villarato aside, even a neutral observer would have to conclude that Guardiola and his squad have been hard done by key decisions in the last two Champions League rounds, thanks to questionable decision-making by Massimo Busacca, and especially last week in Milan by Portuguese referee Olegario Benquerenca.
Pique wants Inter to go through hell
FC Barcelona centre-back and Spanish international Gerard Pique urged Barca fans to prepare a real hell for the visitors on Wednesday’s return leg of the Champions League semi-final game against FC Internazionale in today’s scheduled press conference.
UEFA Champions League Match Preview: FC Barcelona vs Internazionale Milano
Wednesday, April 28, 20:45 CET – Camp Nou, Barcelona
990 minutes.
242 players.
29 goals.
11 matches.
The emotion, the effort. The pain, the triumph. It has all been building up to this point for FC Barcelona.
90 minutes.
22 players.
2 goals.
1 match.
The 22nd of May is at this point a date of non-existence on the Catalan calendars. There is no compromising this situation, there is no second option, no side street that can be taken, this game is about now and only now. Welcome to the UEFA Champions League, welcome to Barcelona versus Inter Milan, welcome to the comeback.
When they met seven days ago, a sense of a pre-determined result lingered in the air. The bitter taste of their November embarrassment remained in the mouths of Inter Milan as memories of Barcelona’s 2-0 win with 70% possession stayed ever-present. The bookmakers backed Barca as a sure money bet and after 19 minutes it seemed that this was surely the case.
Moratti: “Barca are trying to pressure the referee”
“We’re looking forward to this Wednesday’s match against Barcelona. We are competing the Champions League and all our focus are on it,” Moratti was quoted by the club’s website yesterday, adding that they will not let themselves be distracted by their Serie A challenge – a title they won back-to-back the last 4 seasons.
Sneijder doubtful for the return leg?
Dutch international and Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder might miss the return leg of the Champions League semi-finals if he fails to recover from a left thigh strain injury he suffered this Saturday against Atalanta. Continue reading »
Olegario Benquerenca in trouble?
After Barcelona’s 3-1 loss in the San Siro on Tuesday, many people focused on the poor performance from Portuguese referee Olegario Benquerenca. Benquerenca and his linesmen missed an offside call that resulted in Milan’s third goal, showed Dani Alves a yellow card for ‘diving’ in what looked like a clear penalty, allowed play to continue after a potential foul on Messi that led to the second Milan goal, as well as other less-game-changing calls that went Inter’s way the entire match.
Long Faces Among the Blaugrana Players on their Return to Barcelona
According to Catalan news site Sport, the Barça players returned by plane to the city, following the intense game in Milan, and their faces reflected the weight of the loss at the hands of Mourinho’s Inter.
Guardiola: “We lost against a good team but we’ll do better next time”
Ever a gentleman, FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola congratulated Inter on their win last night and reckoned the defeat was down to “playing against a good team,” but also because “we gave away simple balls – we knew what can happen if we lost the ball; they would try and hit us on the break, looking for the space behind us to release their forwards.”
Post-match: Player reactions
Pique
“The TV will show that Milito was offside and that Maicon’s goal came as a result of a foul on Messi. Barca didn’t have any help from the referees. Hopefully for the return leg we’ll have an impartial referee. The return leg will be a long 90 minutes, we’re only down two goals and I’m sure we are capable of winning.”
“They had studied us well. They dominated the game and knew how to stop our game.”
Guardiola: “There’s no reason to whine”
Speaking at the scheduled Champions League pre-match press conference in Milan last night, only hours after the completion of their 1000km 2-day journey from their Ciutat Esportivo home base, FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola ‘promised’ not to use fatigue from the trip as an excuse should they under-perform tonight: “It’s not something that we would have wished for but bear in mind there are still plenty of second and third division teams who do this all the time.
Referee Bartolo Benquerenca to oversee Inter vs. Barca clash
Portuguese official Bartolo Faustino Olegario Benquerenca has been appointed to referee the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals tie between FC Internazionale and FC Barcelona on Tuesday evening. The Portuguese will be accompanied by linesmen Jose Manuel Silva Cardinal and Berino Miranda Cunha. The 4th official will be Artur Manuel Riberio Soares Dias.
Mourinho: “I hope Guardiola will continue to be coach of Barca forever”
Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has started the mind games with his Champions League opponents Barcelona, heaping praise on his opposite number Pep Guardiola.
Busquets: “Our ambition and desire can overcome anything”
Barcelona midfielder and Spanish international Sergio Busquets (21) spoke in a press conference prior to departing to Milan by bus. The team had to change their date of departure due to the volcanic ash in the atmosphere that was produced in a recent explosion in Iceland. They are now looking at a nine to ten hour trip and Busquets made clear that the team won’t use the long journey as an excuse come Tuesday.
UEFA Champions League Match Preview: Inter Milan vs FC Barcelona
They were once a hapless wreck. Now they are a force to be reckoned with.
They once had no direction. Now they are following a faultless line.
They once had no style. Now they are the sensational blend of a ruthless defence, a devouring midfield, and a punishing attack.
Inter Milan once supplied no competition, this team has now faded into non-existence. The genius of one man could be the brilliance that catalyses the unthinkable demise of FC Barcelona.
Eto’o: “Messi is a god, but we are not scared”
Former FC Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o insisted that there is only one possible name that could be on a theoretical list of the best players on this planet; that name is Lionel Messi. But despite that fact, the Cameroonian international warned that Inter is determined not to let their own Champions League hope go down the drain without a fight.
“If there is a god of football right now, his name has to be Messi, just as it’s impossible not to say that the best team in the world at this moment is Barcelona,” football-italia.net quoted him as saying.
20 players travel to Milan; Abidal and Fontas included
With the team having to leave this afternoon on a road trip to Milan, Italy – two days ahead of the scheduled Champions League Semi-finals first leg match against Inter – FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has already announced the names of the 20 players he will bring with him.
Airports in Catalunya ordered closed; Barca faces more difficulties
Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA), Spain’s state-owned company that manages all Spanish airports and air traffic controls throughout the country, today announced the closure of all air movements in the northern parts of Spain, including all ten airports located in Catalunya due to the dangers posed by volcanic ash clouds emanating from Iceland. This directive further complicates Barcelona’s travel plans to Milan.
Team to travel to Milan on Sunday
The club has decided to travel to Milan this Sunday immediately after training. The ash cloud from the volcano in Iceland has obliged the team to modify their travel arrangements, with the flight to Milan remaining the first option.
Volcano ash jeopardizes Inter-Barcelona match
The ash cloud from Icelandic’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano has arrived in Italy and is threatening to derail the Inter Milan–FC Barcelona Champions League semi-finals first leg clash on Tuesday as all airports in northern parts of the country have been closed, with at least a 20-hour ban on all flights in the affected areas.
Eto’o still respects the Camp Nou crowd
Samuel Eto’o’s and FC Barcelona’s path will cross again this week. The former Barcelona hero – now in the ranks of Inter Milan – will, for the third time this season face his former teammates in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Guardiola: “This win will have a profound effect on us”
In the post-match news conference held after FC Barcelona’s 4-1 rout of Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final match at the Camp Nou last night, Pep Guardiola chose to praise his players’ achievements first before he talked about anything else: “I congratulate the team and beyond that, the club, because in the last five years we have played four Champions League semi-finals and that speaks highly of the club.” Continue reading »
