After eight hours of aggression, animosity, controversy and the odd bit of skill too, there will be no more Clasicos in 2010-11, and while Real Madrid won the only one that directly earned either club a trophy,Barcelona will end the series far happier after booking a spot in the Champions League Final.
They did so after delivering a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou on Tuesday to see out the 2-0 advantage gained at the Bernabeu six days earlier, and while there was controversy again with Gonzalo Higuain having a legitimate goal chalked off at 0-0, it's difficult to dispute that the best team progressed.
And having eliminated the trio of Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid to reach Wembley, Barcelona are clear favourites to celebrate a second triumph in three years and third in six in the city of their first ever Champions League success, with odds of 1.54 offered on them lifting the cup.
Their most likely opponents in London are Manchester United, who head into the second leg of their semi-final against Schalke this evening with a 2-0 kead and are overwhelmingly fancied to qualify at 1.03 and in the process confirm a repeat of the 2008-09 Final in which Barcelona were 2-0 victors.
Considered almost as certain as a showdown between the expected La Liga and Premier League winners at Wembley is the fact that Lionel Messi will finish as tournament top goalscorer for the third season in succession.
Despite failing to net at home to Real Madrid, the Ballon d'Or holder is six goals clear of the nearest challenger still involved in the competition, and as that's Raul - whose campaign looks set to end tonight - it's no surprise that the Schalke striker is a1000.0 outsider.
No comments:
Post a Comment