No team has defeated Barca at the Nou Camp in three years in European competition since Rijkaard took over. No team has come off a 1-0 trail in a Champions League semi final. From the FCB site:

Since the Champions League adopted its present format in the 1992-93 season, only one team - Ajax in 1995-96 - has managed to overturn an adverse result from the first home leg of the semi-finals.

History is in Barca’s side. Very strong stats. But stats matter little when Barcelona play a strong Milan side.

Forget the injury talk. Forget every thing else. When the match starts, it is going to be tough and competitive. Game 1 was not wasy with Milan having a lot of chances. They panicked a bit in the second half. However, they are unlikely to in the second leg today. So, it is going to be a very good battle and Barcelona will definitely have to earn the Champions League spot with a very good performance.

This is either going to be very special or a heartbreaking experience.

Sky Sport’s Phil Thompson believes that every thing suggests towards a Barcelona win. I see it similarly but cannot help but feel very itchy as the game draws closer.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 at 8:22 pm and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.