Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2011 UEFA Champions League Semifinal: Succession Of Real Madrid Free Kicks As Game Gets Feisty

I think that may very well be the first free kick that's gone Real Madrid's way after Sergio Busquets fouls his man just inside the Barcelona half. The hosts have the chance to deliver the ball into the box and Xabi Alonso actually sends in a pretty excellent cross, which Pepe does well to latch onto. The midfielder, however, doesn't get very much power behind his header and Victor Valdes has a relatively easy stop.

Seconds later, Marcelo draws another foul in a better position, but the cross isn't nearly as good and it fails to beat the first man, being cleared easily. And then Dani Alves crashes into Angel di Maria (it was not a dive, despite what Alves is telling Wolfgang Stark), and Madrid have a brilliant opportunity to draw first blood from near the corner flag. Cristiano Ronaldo opts to crash the ball straight into the two-man wall, which doesn't seem to be the best decision in retrospect. It's all getting a bit uppity now, with tempers flaring on both sides - we've had more time spent with both teams arguing with the referee than we have had them playing football over the last five minutes.

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.