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Wednesday April 23, 2008 Finished Nou Camp

Logo 0 - Manchester United 0

Barcelona

Manchester United

  1. United frustrate Barca

    United frustrate Barca

    Cristiano Ronaldo missed an early penalty as Manchester United ground out a 0-0 draw against Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Nou Camp. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Barcelona
    • Manchester United
    • 90+2' The final whistle goes! It's a scoreline that few predicted, but it makes United slight favourites ahead of the return leg at Old Trafford next Tuesday.
    • 90+1' Henry looks to attack a cross from the Barca right, but Ferdinand gets ahead of him to head the ball clear.
    • 90' There will be two minutes of injury time.
    • 88' Henry whips the ball up and over the wall, but it's a fairly comfortable save for Van der Sar.
    • 87' Barca win a free-kick in a central position, about 30 yards from goal.
    • 86' Iniesta forces Van der Sar to scramble across goal with a low volley from distance, but the shot was probably just going wide.
    • 85' A third and final change for United. Ryan Giggs comes on for Carlos Tevez, and inches another game closer to Bobby Charlton's all-time United appearance record.
    • 83' Henry thumps in a right-footed effort from the left-hand corner of the area that Van der Sar has to push away! It's the first time the Dutchman has really had to make a save.
    • 81' Scholes is lucky not to concede a free-kick for sliding in from behind on Eto'o just inside the United half.
    • 80' Henry looks to be through on goal but the pass from midfield is just too strong and Van der Sar gathers. Ten nervy minutes to go.
    • 78' Barca take a quick free-kick, Bojan crosses from the right, Brown clears.
    • 77' Barca respond with a substitution, as the familiar figure of Thierry Henry steps off the bench to replace Deco.
    • 76' United make their first change, with Nani replacing Rooney, who's had a frustrating night.
    • 73' Hargreaves is booked after just catching Bojan with a late challenge.
    • 71' Iniesta theatrically tumbles over Evra's outstretched leg inside the United area, but the referee isn't buying it and rightly so.
    • 70' Ronaldo surges into the Barca box down the inside-right channel, but Abidal times his challenge to perfection. Ronaldo, predictably, still wants a penalty.
    • 69' Ferdinand clears Eric Abidal's left-wing cross with his right heel. And he wonders why people accuse him of being laid back.
    • 68' United have turned in a decent defensive performance tonight, but they will be disappointed if they don't manage to nick a goal in the 20 minutes or so that remain.
    • 67' Bojan seeks to turn Hargreaves inside out on the Barca left, but the England man stands his ground. Eto'o and Toure link up on the edge of the United box before Toure slips and the ball rolls out for a goal kick.
    • 65' Ferdinand gives away a corner on the Barca left with a clumsily overhit back-pass. The corner is cleared to Deco on the edge of the box, and he crashes a firmly struck drive well wide.
    • 64' It's all very compact from Barca. Lots of pretty shapes, but no real penetration. Xavi slashes a shot across goal and wide from 25 yards.
    • 63' Xavi curls the free-kick well over the bar.
    • 62' Iniesta goes down under a challenge from Hargreaves. Free-kick to Barca on the left-hand edge of the area. Barca make their first change, and Messi - who has evidently run out of steam - is replaced by 17-year-old hot-shot Bojan Krkic.
    • 60' Deco shoots from the edge of the box, the ball takes a slight deflection but Van der Sar makes the save.
    • 58' One thing Barcelona will not do is change the way they play. You sometimes get the impression that if they can't pass the ball into the net they'd rather not score at all.
    • 56' Xavi looks for Eto'o with a through-ball down the middle but there's just too much on the pass and it runs through to Van der Sar.
    • 55' Messi looks to exchange passes with Eto'o on the Barca right but he's just squeezed out by Evra. Zambrotta fires in a right-footed effort from outside the area that's straight at Van der Sar.
    • 54' Deco tries to find Zambrotta on the Barca right with a lofted crossfield pass, but Evra coolly chests the ball away.
    • 53' Chance for United! Rooney's corner from the right glances off Brown's head to Carrick on the left-hand corner of the box, and he cuts outside his man before drilling a rising left-footed effort into the side netting!
    • 52' Lovely football from Barca! Messi plays it to Iniesta, Iniesta flicks it into Eto'o's path on the right and he drives a low shot into the side netting!
    • 50' Great chance for Barca! Brown is tackled by Messi, Eto'o hurdles Ferdinand's challenge on the edge of the box before cutting the ball inside, but Carrick manages to hack it away! Credit to Eto'o - he could easily have gone down under Ferdinand's challenge.
    • 49' The corner is headed clear at the near post by Ronaldo, and Zambrotta drives in a left-footed effort from 30 yards that Van der Sar helps over the bar!
    • 48' Messi wins a corner off Evra on the Barca right.
    • 47' Iniesta finds Messi in space on the edge of the United box, and he rolls the ball forward with his left before striking it with his right, but his wayward shot hits Brown and dribbles back to Van der Sar.
    • 46' The second half begins! No personnel changes for either side at half-time. With an away goal such a precious commodity at this stage of the tournament, a goalless draw will do few favours for United.
    • 45' Ronaldo curls the free-kick a couple of yards wide of the right-hand post. And the half-time whistle goes. United have comfortably repelled Barca's attacks so far, but things could have been so different had Ronaldo not spurned that early penalty.
    • 44' Marquez is booked for a rather cynical trip on Ronaldo as he cuts purposefully infield from the left wing. Marquez will now miss the return leg next week.
    • 43' Eto'o looks to get onto a through-ball from Milito but Ferdinand has got the pace to just get ahead of him and touch the ball back to Van der Sar.
    • 42' Ronaldo floats a disappointingly gentle free-kick to the edge of the Barca penalty area, where it's headed clear by Toure.
    • 41' Evra wins a free-kick wide on the United left.
    • 40' Ronaldo plays one of those heavily exaggerated backheeled passes to Evra on the United left, but the Frenchman's pass inside is cut out.
    • 39' There's a huge buzz of anticipation every time Messi gets on the ball, but for all his typically incisive promptings, Barca still haven't fashioned a decent chance.
    • 38' Scholes is harshly penalised for a non-existent trip on the advancing Iniesta. Free-kick to Barca, 30 yards out. Deco rather scuffs his effort and it's a routine save for Van der Sar.
    • 36' Iniesta looks to weave his way infield from the left before being tackled by Michael Carrick. Hargreaves goes down clutching his knee after being caught by Iniesta on the far side of the pitch, but he looks like he'll be able to continue.
    • 34' Sight of goal for Barca! Messi finds Eto'o on the edge of the box, but his low shot is blocked by a combination of Ferdinand and Brown and bounces back to Van der Sar for a comfortable save.
    • 33' Van der Sar comfortably gathers Xavi's corner. Tevez is penalised for barging into Zambrotta.
    • 32' Scholes cuts down Deco on the Barca right and concedes a free-kick. Deco goes for goal direct from the free-kick, but his right-footed effort strikes the wall and loops behind for a corner.
    • 31' United break, Rooney crosses from the right but Park can't get enough on his back post header and Valdes gathers.
    • 29' Penalty shout for United! Ronaldo seizes on Iniesta's dreadful square pass, touches the ball past Marquez and the Mexican steps across him and brings him down! But the referee says play on!
    • 28' Barca have dominated possession in this first half, and United have had a few nervy moments at the back, but Van der Sar is yet to be tested.
    • 26' Eto'o threatens! Iniesta slips a pass to him inside the United box, and after he manages to slip past Rio Ferdinand, Rooney - what's he doing there? - hammers the ball away.
    • 25' Iniesta cracks in a shot from the edge of the box that drifts wide of the right-hand post after some typically impish approach play from Messi.
    • 23' Toure shapes a cross into the United box from the left, the ball clips Iniesta and goes behind but the referee awards a corner! Luckily for the referee - and United - Van der Sar's goal survives intact.
    • 22' Ronaldo chases after a long ball but is beaten to it by Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
    • 21' Xavi clips a free-kick into the United penalty area from a deep, fairly central position, and Brown just manages to ensure that Marquez can't get a touch on it.
    • 19' Messi skips infield from the right wing before being blocked off by Park. Brown puts a clearance straight into the stands on the near side.
    • 17' Rooney's corner is disappointing and drifts out of play for a throw-in on the far side.
    • 16' Milito clatters into Tevez from behind. Free-kick to United, 35 yards from goal in the inside left channel. Ronaldo's effort nicks off Xavi and goes behind for a corner.
    • 15' Barca are seeing an awful lot of the ball at the moment and United can't get out of their own half. That missed penalty has momentarily thrown Ferguson's men off their stride and galvanised their opponents.
    • 14' Marquez takes the free-kick, and thumps it straight into the wall.
    • 13' Chance for Barca! Edwin van der Sar's awful clearance goes straight to Messi on the Barca right, he plays the ball forward to Eto'o, but Eto'o's attempted pass back to the Argentine is intercepted. Tevez chops down Yaya Toure right on the edge of the United box. Free-kick to Barcelona.
    • 11' Barca are hitting their stride now! Messi slips a lovely ball down the inside-left channel to Andres Iniesta, but his cut-back is behind Deco and United survive.
    • 10' Barca play the corner shot, Messi slips the ball to Deco inside the area but he's crowded out and United are able to clear. The home side are starting to up the pressure.
    • 9' Patrice Evra concedes a corner on the Barca right. Xavi's delivery towards Eto'o is put behind by Brown. The subsequent corner is cleared to Gianluca Zambrotta, whose shot is deflected behind for another corner.
    • 8' Tevez loses the ball to Eto'o and he races towards goal, nutmegs Brown on the edge of the box before being dispossessed by the back-tracking Tevez.
    • 7' Better from Ronaldo. He gets away from two men down the left and puts in a left-footed cross that Barca clear.
    • 6' Ronaldo crashes to the turf after being caught by Portugal team-mate Deco. United's number seven will be seething over that penalty miss. He just opened himself up too much.
    • 4' Brown looks for Park with a long ball down the United left but the Korean has strayed offside.
    • 3' Ronaldo steps up... AND PUTS IT WIDE OF THE RIGHT-HAND POST! Terrible penalty from the United man! A glorious chance of an early away goal goes begging. Ronaldo has probably never taken a worse penalty in his life. Massive let-off for the home side.
    • 2' PENALTY TO UNITED! Ronaldo's free-kick is deflected over the bar for a corner on the right. It's swung into the box, Ronaldo gets a glancing header in and Gabriel Milito blocks it with his hand!
    • 1' We're underway! The noise inside the ground is tremendous. Ronaldo wins an early free-kick from Marquez, about 40 yards from goal. Looks like he fancies it...
    • 19:44 Looks like Rooney will start on the right for United, with Park on the left and Ronaldo just behind Tevez up front. Deco and Eto'o have a quick tactical chat prior to kick-off. Barca will attack from left to right in the first half.
    • 19:42 The teams emerge onto the pitch, Barca in their famous home strip of blue and burgundy striped shirts, blue shorts and blue and burgundy hooped socks. United are in a change strip of all white with black trim. Massimo Busacca of Switzerland is our flourescent yellow-clad referee.
    • 19:40 Paul Scholes will become only the ninth player to make 100 Champions League appearances tonight. Nani, Patrice Evra, Rafael Marquez, Gabriel Milito, Yaya Toure and Lionel Messi, meanwhile, are one booking away from missing the second leg. Kick-off is five minutes away. Surprisingly enough, it's a sell-out.
    • 19:35 The official line on Henry's absence from the Barca line-up is that he has a temperature. Make of that what you will. He's yet to win over the Barca fans this season and has been very vocal in his complaints about being made to play on the left wing. But he boasted an impressive record against United during his Arsenal days - scoring nine times in 18 matches - and will be desperate to impress if he gets on.
    • 19:30 Both sides go into the game with almost identical Champions League records this season. They have both played 10, won eight, drawn two and lost none, scoring 18 and conceding five. Similarly, this will be both teams' 10th appearance in a European Cup semi-final. Ominously, it is a stage at which United tend to fall. They have reached only two finals, as opposed to Barcelona's five.
    • 19:25 The 1998-1999 season was the last time the sides met in this competition, and they played out two enthralling 3-3 draws in the group stages. Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Wes Brown were all in United's squad for those games, while Xavi is Barca's only survivor. Not for these two the cagey conservatism of Liverpool and Chelsea. With the attacking talent on show, a 0-0 draw tonight would be a big surprise.
    • 19:20 BARCELONA TEAM NEWS: Lionel Messi makes his first start since recovering from the thigh problem that kept him on the sidelines for six weeks, while Rafael Marquez comes into the team at centre-half in place of suspended captain Carles Puyol. There's no place in the starting XI for Thierry Henry; Samuel Eto'o starts on his own up front.
    • 19:15 MANCHESTER UNITED TEAM NEWS: Nemanja Vidic misses out with a stomach upset, and Alex Ferguson opts to replace him with Wes Brown and moves Owen Hargreaves to right-back. In a commendably adventurous formation, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez spearhead a loose-limbed 4-4-2 with Cristiano Ronaldo and Park Ji-sung on the flanks.
    • 19:10 Tonight's game is the first time United have returned to the scene of their 1999 Champions League final triumph, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's dramatic injury time goal clinched a 2-1 win over Bayern Munich and secured the third leg of an unprecedented Treble. Barca, meanwhile, were European Champions as recently as 2006. Both Barca and United have won the famous big-eared trophy just twice (United first won it in 1968, Barca in 1992), and will regard that as a poor return for clubs of such enormous stature.
    • 19:00 Good evening and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of this Champions League semi-final first leg from Camp Nou. Messi v Ronaldo, Rijkaard v Ferguson, Barcelona v Manchester United - it's a tie which pits two of Europe's finest attacking teams against each other and has been labelled a purist's dream. Kick-off is at 19:45 BST.

  • Team Stats

    Barcelona Stats Manchester United
    72% Possession 27%
    20 Shots 7
    6 Shots on target 1
    1 Saves 0
    8 Corners 3
    20 Fouls 10
    0 Offsides 3
    1 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    19 Tackles 35
    616 Accurate passes 191
    66 Bad passes 23

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Barcelona
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Víctor Valdés 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0
      4 Rafael Márquez 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 64 2 0
      22 Eric Abidal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40 14 8
      11 Gianluca Zambrotta 0 2 1 2 3 0 0 72 0 3
      3 Gabriel Milito 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 61 6 1
      24 Gnegneri Yaya Toure 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 66 7 1
      20 Anderson Deco 0 3 0 2 4 0 0 77 4 0
      6 Xavi Hernández 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 116 14 1
      8 Andres Iniesta 0 2 1 0 6 0 0 42 11 1
      19 Lionel Messi 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 38 3 2
      9 Samuel Eto'o 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 19 3 1
      14 Thierry Henry 0 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
      27 Bojan Krkic 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 15 2 1
      13 Jose Manuel Pinto 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Lilian Thuram 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      7 Eidur Gudjohnsen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 Giovanni dos Santos 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Sylvinho Mendes Campos 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Manchester United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Edwin Van der Sar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3 0
      6 Wes Brown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 3 2
      3 Patrice Evra 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 18 5 6
      5 Rio Ferdinand 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 19 0 1
      16 Michael Carrick 0 1 0 3 2 0 0 21 0 7
      18 Paul Scholes 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 39 2 7
      7 Cristiano Ronaldo 0 5 0 1 4 1 0 12 3 1
      4 Owen Hargreaves 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 16 2 3
      13 Ji-sung Park 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 13 3 7
      10 Wayne Rooney 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 0
      32 Carlos Tevez 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 22 2 1
      17 Luís Almeida da Cunha 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0
      29 Tomasz Kuszczak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      11 Ryan Giggs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      27 Mikael Silvestre 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      8 Anderson Oliveira 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      22 John O'Shea 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Gerard Pique 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 88' Henry whips the ball up and over the wall, but it's a fairly comfortable save for Van der Sar.
    • 86' Iniesta forces Van der Sar to scramble across goal with a low volley from distance, but the shot was probably just going wide.
    • 83' Henry thumps in a right-footed effort from the left-hand corner of the area that Van der Sar has to push away! It's the first time the Dutchman has really had to make a save.
    • 60' Deco shoots from the edge of the box, the ball takes a slight deflection but Van der Sar makes the save.
    • 53' Chance for United! Rooney's corner from the right glances off Brown's head to Carrick on the left-hand corner of the box, and he cuts outside his man before drilling a rising left-footed effort into the side netting!
    • 52' Lovely football from Barca! Messi plays it to Iniesta, Iniesta flicks it into Eto'o's path on the right and he drives a low shot into the side netting!
    • 50' Great chance for Barca! Brown is tackled by Messi, Eto'o hurdles Ferdinand's challenge on the edge of the box before cutting the ball inside, but Carrick manages to hack it away! Credit to Eto'o - he could easily have gone down under Ferdinand's challenge.
    • 49' The corner is headed clear at the near post by Ronaldo, and Zambrotta drives in a left-footed effort from 30 yards that Van der Sar helps over the bar!
    • 34' Sight of goal for Barca! Messi finds Eto'o on the edge of the box, but his low shot is blocked by a combination of Ferdinand and Brown and bounces back to Van der Sar for a comfortable save.
    • 29' Penalty shout for United! Ronaldo seizes on Iniesta's dreadful square pass, touches the ball past Marquez and the Mexican steps across him and brings him down! But the referee says play on!
    • 26' Eto'o threatens! Iniesta slips a pass to him inside the United box, and after he manages to slip past Rio Ferdinand, Rooney - what's he doing there? - hammers the ball away.
    • 13' Chance for Barca! Edwin van der Sar's awful clearance goes straight to Messi on the Barca right, he plays the ball forward to Eto'o, but Eto'o's attempted pass back to the Argentine is intercepted. Tevez chops down Yaya Toure right on the edge of the United box. Free-kick to Barcelona.
    • 11' Barca are hitting their stride now! Messi slips a lovely ball down the inside-left channel to Andres Iniesta, but his cut-back is behind Deco and United survive.
    • 3' Ronaldo steps up... AND PUTS IT WIDE OF THE RIGHT-HAND POST! Terrible penalty from the United man! A glorious chance of an early away goal goes begging. Ronaldo has probably never taken a worse penalty in his life. Massive let-off for the home side.
    • 2' PENALTY TO UNITED! Ronaldo's free-kick is deflected over the bar for a corner on the right. It's swung into the box, Ronaldo gets a glancing header in and Gabriel Milito blocks it with his hand!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Massimo Busacca

  • Barcelona

    Manager: Frank Rijkaard

    Captain: Hernández Xavi

    On the Field

    • Valdés
    • Zambrotta
    • Milito
    • Márquez Yellow Card
    • Abidal
    • Touré
    • Xavi
    • Messi Substitution Out (62′)
    • Deco Substitution Out (77′)
    • Iniesta
    • Eto'o

    Subs

    • Henry Substitution In77′
    • Thuram
    • Gudjohnsen
    • Sylvinho
    • Pinto
    • Dos Santos
    • Bojan Substitution In62′

    Injured

    • Ronaldinho

    Suspended

    • Puyol

  • Manchester United

    Manager: Alex Ferguson

    On the Field

    • van der Sar
    • Hargreaves Yellow Card
    • Ferdinand
    • Brown
    • Evra
    • Park
    • Scholes
    • Carrick
    • Ronaldo
    • Rooney Substitution Out (76′)
    • Tevez Substitution Out (85′)

    Subs

    • O'Shea
    • Silvestre
    • Giggs Substitution In85′
    • Kuszczak
    • Pique
    • Nani Substitution In76′
    • Anderson

    Injured

    • Saha
    • Vidic

    Suspended

    None