Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2011 UEFA Champions League Semifinal: Lionel Messi Goal Gives Barcelona Huge Advantage

A good chance for Real Madrid to cause some problems. Gerard Pique commits a foul about forty yards from goal, and although it's a long way out we've all seen Cristiano Ronaldo put those chances away before. The Portuguese star takes his time lining up the shot and eventually blasts an effort towards Victor Valdes' goal... actually, 'towards' might well be overstating things - the shot doesn't dip and the shot flies well over.

And now Barcelona have scored! Substitute Ibrahim Afellay destroys Marcelo on the right and gets to the byline to make a cross, and who else by Lionel Messi is there to sneak in past Sergio Ramos to smash the ball into the back fo the net from all of a yard. How important could that goal be? Barcelona now lead 1-0 on aggregate against ten-man Madrid with a vital away goal. Real are going to need to come up with a reply and fairly fast, or they'll be going into the second leg at the Camp Nou at a major disadvantage.

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.