See you in Wembley

Barcelona goes into the final of the Champions League (Champions League) football in Europe, after drawing 1-1 with Real Madrid in the second leg of the semi final.

Blaugrana Peters scored on 54 minutes, while the meringues Marcelo did 10 minutes later.

Barcelona will face Manchester United in the League final on 28 May.

Dirty side of football!

I'll leave you with the Copa Del Rey final match video to do the talking.

Messi magic sinks 10-man Real Madrid

(CNN) -- A pair of second half goals from Lionel Messi gave Barcelona a 2-0 win over 10-man Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal in the Bernabeu Wednesday.
A scrappy and ill-tempered affair saw Real's Portuguese international defender Pepe sent off after 61 minutes with manager Jose Mourinho also dismissed to the stands for complaining about the decision.
Earlier, a melee in the tunnel at halftime had Barcelona reserve goalkeeper Jose Pinto shown a red card by German referee Wolfgang Stark.
It took a moment of typical Messi magic to break the deadlock, connecting with a fine cross from substitute Ibrahim Afellay for his 76th minute opener.
And with four minutes remaining, Messi rounded off a fine night for Barcelona with a majestic second, weaving his way through the Real defense to beat Iker Casillas with ease.

It takes his tally for the season to 52, with 11 coming in the Champions League and leaves Real with an almost insurmountable task in the second leg in the Nou Camp next week.
Mourinho's men had worked hard to cancel out Barcelona as they had to such good effect in beating them in the final of the Copa del Rey last week and the tactics worked well in the first half.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the match winner in that final, came close with a shot which surprised Victor Valdes in the Barca goal and Mesut Ozil might have scored from the rebound.
Barcelona had the bulk of the possession without looking their threatening best until the match turned on Pepe's dismissal as he lunged for a high bouncing ball and caught Dani Alves.
The decision looked harsh and Mourinho was quick to show his displeasure and with the extra man it was Barcelona who capitalized with David Villa forcing a fine save from Casillas before Messi's double strike.
An angry Mourinho hit out at the referee's decision after the match.
"Another miracle with ten men wasn't possible," he told AFP.
"Yes, I think we are eliminated. We will go to Camp Nou with everything and to get a result but I can't see it.
"We will be without Pepe and (Sergio) Ramos who didn't do anything and neither did I. I just want to know why? Why did Pepe get sent off? I just want someone to explain. Why did it happen?"

With Manchester United also leading 2-0 from their away leg against Schalke Tuesday, the stage looks set for a repeat of the 2009 Champions League final, won by Barcelona.

Pep: Jose's the man off the pitch

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola hit back at Real Madrid counterpart Jose Mourinho as a stunning war of words erupted between the pair.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday's Champions League semi-final first leg, Mourinho launched a stinging attack on Guardiola regarding comments the Barca coach was supposed to have made about certain refereeing decisions.
Mourinho, referring to an example following last week's Copa del Rey final between Madrid and Barca regarding a disallowed Pedro Rodriguez goal for offside, said Guardiola had created a new group of coaches - one that criticises officials when they make correct decisions.
"Up until now we've had two groups of coaches," said the Portuguese coach. "[There's] a very small group who didn't talk about referees. Then there's a larger group, of which I'm included, of coaches that criticises referees when they make big mistakes.
"And with Pep's statements we've come to a third group, which is a one person group, who criticises good decisions made by the referee. I've never seen this before."
Guardiola refused to take the comments lying down, though, and launched an angry response during his press conference on Tuesday.
The Barca coach said: "Tomorrow at 8.45 we will meet each other on the pitch. Off the pitch he has already won.
"In this room (press room), he's the f****** chief, the f****** man, the person who knows everything about the world and I don't want to compete with him at all.
"It's a type of game I'm not going to play because I don't know how.
"I won't justify my words. I congratulated Madrid for the cup that they won deservedly on the pitch and against a team that I represent and of which I feel very proud."
He added: "Off the pitch, he has already won, as he has done all year.
"On the pitch, we'll see what happens."
Guardiola continued: "If you think that his allegation that I always complain about the referees is true after you've all heard form me over the last three years, well there's nothing I can do. Off the pitch there's nothing we can do to fight that."
Although Guardiola seemed to have been ruffled by Mourinho's apparent mind games, the Barca coach insisted his players would not be affected by all this.
He said: "Do you think the players will run more because I've spoken to Jose through the cameras? It's the Champions League semi-finals. The players won't be motivated by this, they know what I think about everything associated with this game."
Regarding the match, Barca suffered a blow when midfielder Andres Iniesta was ruled out with a calf injury.
Iniesta therefore joins Eric Abidal, Maxwell, Adriano and Bojan Krkic on the sidelines, although there was good news with captain Carles Puyol - who has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury - coming through this evening's training session unscathed.
When asked if Iniesta would be fit for next week's second leg, Guardiola said: "We hope that he will be recovered. As for who will play in his place, I don't know. I don't have many players to pick from but someone will step in and we'll see what we can do.
"I feel confident about the players we have. We are coming here proud to defend our style of play, with 12 home-grown players and set to face a team in the semi-finals who have nine European Cups and seven great forwards."

Barca lifted by Puyol news

Barcelona have been buoyed by the news that Carles Puyol will be fit for Wednesday's Champions League clash with Real Madrid.

The defender has recovered from a leg strain, picked up in the recent 1-1 La Liga draw with Real and led to him missing both the Copa del Rey final and the weekend win over Osasuna.
As well as the news on their skipper, Barca say Gabriel Milito is also fit again but full-back Maxwell is sidelined with a groin strain and coach Pep Guardiola believes that Real hold the advantage going into the first-leg.
"We are not going [to Madrid] in the best condition but in mental terms we will travel to the Bernabeu with a lot of enthusiasm," the Camp Nou boss said.
"We accept that Madrid are favourites, they have earned that in the last few weeks, and we'll try to turn that around."
Real will be without Ricardo Carvalho for the first leg of the semi-final, because he is suspended, while injured midfielder Sami Khedira is set to be replaced by Lassana Diarra.

BARCELONA, Iniesta: "We will find the strength from somewhere"

Andrés Iniesta feels the team is able to get a good result from their trip to the Bernabéu on Wednesday, which should move them that much closer to the Champions League final at Wembley.

Iniesta considers that under Guardiola, Barcelona have done more than enough to show that they have good reason to feel optimistic about continuing their European campaign, and also commented that at the start of the season “we would all have settled for being where we are in the league, being in the Champions League semi finals and playing the Copa del Rey final”.

Fitness concerns
And he insists that this is not the moment to dwell on the sorrow of what happened in the Copa del Rey final or the latest injury problems. “We have to press on with what we’ve got … we have to find strength where there is none … the players are fine, and we are focused on what we have ahead of us. And what we have ahead of us is something very nice indeed to focus on”.

Going for goals 

As for Wednesday’s game plan, Iniesta said “we know how to do things right and know how to counter the good things about Madrid … we have to be solid at the back and have to attack well in order to win the game and score goals.” Naturally, the main objective is to get a good result to boost their chances in the return leg at the Camp Nou.

“It will be tough and difficult”, admitted the midfielder. “But we have a positive attitude and are very excited to know that we have come so close to playing in another final”.

Wembley on their minds

Iniesta scored the winner two years ago against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to put his team in the Champions League final in Rome. But scoring another crucial goal is not his priority right now. “It would be a dream to play at Wembley. I don’t mind if I don’t score, or if I don’t even play, as long as we get to that final”.

Iniesta reveals Wembley ´dream´

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has one eye on the Champions League final at Wembley. Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has one eye on the Champions League final at Wembley.

Pep Guardiola's side have one more obstacle to pass - Real Madrid in the two-legged semi-finals - in order to get to the illustrious London arena for this season's finale on May 28.

But that has not stopped Iniesta from dreaming of Barcelona making their second Champions League decider in three campaigns.

"I don't dream of scoring legendary goals, but I dream of being at Wembley," Iniesta said.

"I don't care about scoring goals or not being able to play, as long as we get to the final. Now our only thoughts are these. The team is not thinking of anything else."

Iniesta and his team-mates travel to the Bernabeu for the first leg of the semi-final against Real, who upset their El Clasico arch-rivals in the Copa del Rey final last Wednesday.

While Barca will be well versed in the strengths and weaknesses of Jose Mourinho's side, Iniesta believes the Catalans would be better to focus on their own game rather than that of their opponents.

"We'll win because we do not do anything else," Iniesta said of their first leg in Madrid on Wednesday.

"We should not look at Madrid but only ourselves."

"We have to counter their strengths. There are many circumstances and it will depend on how the game goes. We must remember that there are 180 minutes."

"We will play with a positive mindset and with the knowledge that we are not far from the final."