Barcelona are still seeing most of the ball, and they seem to be forcing their hosts to foul them whenever they want it back, which is obviously problematic for Madrid because Wolfgang Stark is then blowing his whistle to return possession to Guardiola's side. Still, they're mostly making those fouls around the centre line and then defending deep and in numbers, and Barcelona have had no real penetration into dangerous areas, as Xavi has just pointed out with a long range shot that misses by something like ten miles. How can he pass so well and then do something like that? Bizarre.
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2011 UEFA Champions League Semifinal: Possession Still With Barcelona, But No Threat From Either Side
Anyway, one suspects that the pattern of the match is about what we expected - Barcelona on the ball, Madrid tough to break down and trying to hit on the counter, although I have to say they’re not doing a very good job of the second part of that plan right now. Mesut Ozil in particular has been pretty disappointing, and one will have to imagine that Jose Mourinho will have strong words for his attackers at halftime.
This is the third of four matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona. You can view our coverage of the April 16th and 20th match here and here, with live coverage of Real Madrid vs Barcelona on April 27 in this story stream.
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