Inter Milan loses in Barcelona but reaches Champions League final
MADRID. April 29. KAZINFORM 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; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
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. 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; Kazinform cites Xinhua.
See www.xinhuanet.com/english2010/ for full version