Inter Milan loses in Barcelona but reaches Champions League final
Gerard Pique scored the only goal of the game as FC Barcelona beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the second leg of the Champions League semifinal on Wednesday night. However, the result was not enough for a Barca side that needed to win by two goals and Inter qualify for the final as a result of its 3-1 win in the first leg.
It was probably a fair result in a game where defending champions Barca did all of the attacking, but struggled to find a way though a magnificently organized visiting defense and failed to create enough clear cut chances.
After several days in which the home side had worked hard to whip up fervor, the Camp Nou Stadium was packed to the rafters with 98,000 home fans, who created a pressure cooker atmosphere in the minutes prior to kick off.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola responded to his side's need to score at least two goals, by naming an attack minded side with Pedro, Leo Messi and Ibrahimovich in attack.
Edge card He also made one surprising change in defense: with Carlos Puyol out through suspension, Guardiola opted to play Toure Yaya at center half with Gabi Milito at left back.
Inter Milan's starting 11 included two former Barcelona players, Thiago Motta and Samuel Eto'o, along with Gabi's brother Diego.
Motta lasted less than 30 minutes in the game before being sent off for two yellow cards, the second of which was for a hand in the face of Barcelona's Sergio Busquets, who was happy to make a meal of an action that was foolish rather than violent.
Barcelona had controlled all of the play and enjoyed 80 percent of the ball, but until Messi produced a brilliant save from Julio Cesar in the 32nd minute, the home side's only chances were two shots from the lively Pedro, both of which flew wide of Julio Cesar's left hand post.
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