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Come Fan with UsTuesday, June 23, 2026

Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2011 UEFA Champions League Semifinal: Lionel Messi Half-Chance To Start Off 2nd Period

Excellent play by Barcelona, who work the ball out wide before cutting back into the area for Lionel Messi. The Argentine forward should shoot first time, but doesn't, leaving Pepe with just enough time to nick it off his boots ten yards away from Iker Casillas' goal. The attack continues, however, but Sergio Busquets eventually wastes it with a very poor pass to Xavi on the right, and eventually the hosts can hack clear.

Substitute Emmanuel Adebayor, meanwhile, is already having a positive effect for the home team, winning an aerial ball int he middle of the pitch before being bundled over by Javier Mascherano. Xabi Alonso tried to catch Victor Valdes off his line with a long range shot, but completely misses, and for some reason Wolfgang Stark doesn't give the hosts a free kick after all of that. How strange.

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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