Real Madrid seek repeat of 2002 win in Barcelona

DPA © Real Madrid will need a heroic performance as they seek to repeat a 2002 Champions League semi-final win against Barcelona when the teams meet in Tuesday's second leg.

   Real lost last week's first leg 2-0 at home to Barca but are determined to repeat their feat of nine years ago when they won 2-0 in the first leg in Camp Nou.

   They then drew the second leg 1-1 to reach the final, where they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in Glasgow for their record ninth triumph.


"Real Madrid is a team accustomed to heroics," said Jorge Valdano, Real's general director.

"We have hope for Tuesday. The players will make a special effort."

   Defender Sergio Ramos said: "We have to be aware of the difficulties, but it is not impossible. We will have to give it everything in Barcelona."

Ramos is suspended for the second leg, along with Pepe, whose sending-off in the first leg provoked a maelstrom of accusations and acrimony.

   Coach Jose Mourinho was sent off for protesting Pepe's red card, and then accused UEFA of giving Barcelona "special treatment." He will be up in the Camp Nou stands rather than on the bench.

   The Portuguese coach will need a more adventurous strategy than in the first leg, when his team had only 21-per-cent possession - and managed just one shot on goal.

   He is considering bringing in either Karim Benzema or Emmanuel Adebayor to support Cristiano Ronaldo in attack, as well as replacing midfielder Mesut Oezil with fit-again Kaka.

   Barca will again field a makeshift defence due to injuries. Gabriel Milito, Eric Abidal and Adriano are all out, though Carles Puyol and Maxwell will probably be fit.

   Coach Pep Guardiola will probably put Puyol at left-back, with Javier Mascherano alongside Gerard Pique in the heart of the defence.

   Andres Iniesta, who missed the first leg with a pulled muscle, will probably be on the subs' bench. His place in midfield will be taken either by Seydou Keita or Ibrahim Afellay, who looked lively when he came off the bench in the first leg.

   Barca would like a calm match after all the bitterness and recriminations of the first leg.

   Club president Sandro Rosell said: "I would like to ask the fans for civility, we have to give a good example by not rising to the provocations that they (Real) have made, as they have been doing for a while now."

   Rosell, whose friendship with Real president Florentino Perez has been damaged by recent events, added that "I do not like the ambience that has been created from the other side (Madrid)."

UEFA rejects Real Mardid, Barcelona protests

DPA © UEFA has turned down pleas from Real Madrid and Barcelona for additional investigations into their ill-tempered Champions League semi-final, the ruling body said on Monday.

UEFA said in a statement that its disciplinary committee will, as planned, on Friday deal with six charges against the two clubs around last Wednesday's first-leg game which Barcelona won 2-0 in Madrid.

Five are directed against Real, including two against coach Jose Mourinho, one against Barca.

Barcelona had lodged an individual complaint against Mourinho who alleged after the game that Barca received preferential treatment. Real, for their part, accused three Barca players of feigning injuries, and protested a red card shown to their player Pepe.

While UEFA said that Barca's complaint was covered by its own investigation, it rejected Real's protests.

"In the case of the behaviour of the Barcelona players, it was deemed that there was no common strategy to provoke the Real Madrid player, while in the case of Pepe, the referee's factual decision is upheld," UEFA said.

The statement said that Pepe remains suspended for Tuesday's return leg in Barcelona. Mourinho will also have to watch from the stands because he was ordered away from the touchline after protesting Pepe's red card.

Possible further sanctions against Pepe and Mourinho will be decided on Friday, when UEFA also looks into Madrid fans throwing missiles onto the pitch and invading it.

Barca will learn about the fate of their reserve goalkeeper Jose Pinto, who was sent off for his role in a brawl as the teams were heading into the dressing room after the halftime whistle.

Real Madrid youngster Marcos arrested after fatal car accident

DPA © Spanish police said on Monday that Real Madrid youngster Marcos Alonso had been arrested after a fatal car accident earlier in the day.

Alonso, who is currently on loan to Premier League side Bolton Wanderers, will be charged with drunken driving after testing positive for alchohol.

A girl of 19 was killed in the accident, which occurred early on Monday in Madrid. Two other youngsters were injured but Alonso, who was driving the car, was unharmed.

Alonso, 20, is an overlapping left-back who made his debut for Real last season, before leaving for Bolton. He is the son of former Atletico Madrid and Barcelona winger Marcos, and the grandson of 1950s Real Madrid defender Marquitos.