© EuroFootball.com
On Tuesday, the first two participants of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals were revealed. They are the "Barcelona" and Munich's "Bayern" clubs, respectively eliminating the "Milan" and "Marseille" teams.
Lionel Messi once again became a hero, securing "Barcelona's" victory against "Milan" 3-1 in front of their own fans. This is also the overall result since the first match at the "San Siro" stadium ended goalless.
The 24-year-old Argentinean moved into third place in the list of all-time leading scorers in the tournament with two goals from 11 meters. This season he has already scored 14 goals and a total of 51 times. Meanwhile, "Barcelona" became only the second club to reach the semi-finals for the fifth consecutive season.
However, controversy arose over the second referee decision to award a penalty to "Milan." Messi scored the first one after he was unsuccessfully held in the penalty area by the defender, but goalkeeper Antonio Nocerino managed to equalize the score before the break after a pass from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Catalans went into the interval leading, as Alessandro Nesta pulled Carles Puyol's shirt in the penalty area. The referee decided that this foul was worthy of a penalty, which Messi converted for the second time.
Although the Italians lacked one goal for a favorable result, in the second half, there was no doubt about the hosts' advantage. Spain's champions avoided more problems by scoring the third goal by Andres Iniesta, who was the first to reach the ball after it bounced off defenders following Messi's shot.
In the semi-finals, "Barcelona" will play against London's "Chelsea" or Lisbon's "Benfica." These teams will determine their relationship for the second time on Wednesday in London, where the Portuguese will seek revenge for the 0-1 defeat.
In the other match, Miuncheno's "Bayern" team won a comfortable victory for the second time, defeating "Marseille" 2-0.
Both goals for the winners were scored in the first half by Ivica Olic, who recently recovered from an injury — the first time the Croatian scored after a pass from Franck Ribery from the flank, and the second goal was scored after a precise touch from David Alaba.
In the Champions League, the German team has won 12 out of the last 13 matches at their stadium, hoping to overcome the semi-final barrier where they will meet Madrid's "Real" or Nicosia's APOEL. It is worth noting that the final will take place in Munich on May 19.
Results:
"Barcelona" 3 - 1 "Milan" (first match 0-0, overall result 3-1) 11' [1 - 0] L.Messi 32' [1 - 1] A.Nocerino 41' [2 - 1] L.Messi 53' [3 - 1] A.Iniesta
"Bayern" Munich 2 - 0 "Marseille" (first match 2-0, overall result 4-0) 13' [1 - 0] I.Olic 37' [2 - 0] I.Olic
