Minute to Minute: FC Barcelona – Manchester United

The semi final stage of the UEFA Champions League continued with the first leg clash between FC Barcelona and Manchester United. SoccerWay kept you up to date on the most important events.

Final score: 0-0
More match information: Here.

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FULL TIME – The final whistle has sounded and no goals were scored tonight. It’s hard to say which side should be happier, although Manchester were the ones that seemed to have a scoreless draw as target all along.

However, both teams will have their ways to make the 0-0 result look good ahead of the second leg next week.

Minute 90: Only two minutes are added by Swiss referee Busacca.

Minute 88: Barcelona get a free kick at about 25 meters from the goal, at a straight angle. Henry takes it but his effort finds Van der Sar.

Minute 86: Iniesta shoots in the rebound but Van der Sar once again gets in the way. The goalkeeper recovered from the few insecure moments in the first half and has been solid since.

Minute 85: Welshman Ryan Giggs comes on for Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez.

Minute 83: Henry thinks differently though and launches a strong shot on goal, which is only just saved by Van der Sar.

Minute 83: Only seven minutes left in regular time and the goalless draw seems more and more likely to happen.

Minute 77: French striker Thierry Henry gets his 15 minutes as he replaces Portuguese midfielder Deco.

Minute 76: Sir Alex Ferguson makes his first change. Nani comes on to replace Wayne Rooney, who has been largely invisible today.

Minute 73: Yellow card for Owen Hargreaves after a foul on Deco. Only the first booking for United in this match.

Minute 71: Barcelona claim a penalty as Iniesta goes down in the penalty area, but there was no foul and the referee waves play on.

Minute 68: United allow Barcelona to do the work as the English seemingly aim for a scoreless draw tonight, to finish it at home next week.

Minute 63: Messi did well today but it’s probably for the best that he comes off, as the young Argentinian only just returned from injury.

Minute 62: First substitution of the match as Rijkaard takes of Messi and brings on Bojan Krkic.

Minute 60: Xavi suddenly appears with a shot on goal but Van der Sar does well to anticipate where the ball will end up and saves comfortably.

Minute 56: While Manchester United have few good options on the bench, Barcelona have quite a selection to choose from with players as Henry, Bojan and Giovani.

Minute 53: It’s been a while, but Manchester finally created a good chance again. Michael Carrick’s effort goes wide though.

Minute 52: Eto’o really is awake now as the Cameroonian tries his luck again with a shot that only just misses the post and hits the side-net.

Minute 50: Eto’o conquers the ball in United’s penalty area and tries to pass the ball to Messi, but a defender gets in the way. A dangerous moment.

Minute 48: The first chance after the break is for Messi, who has a shot deflected over the goal-line by a United defender.

Minute 46: The second half has started in Barcelona. Both teams returned with the same eleven players as before the break.

HALF TIME – Barcelona were by far the better side in this first half, though the biggest chance was for Manchester United. Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score from a third-minute spotkick however.

Minute 44: Rafael Marquez is booked by the referee and misses the second leg in this semi final clash. Whether it was in fact a foul on Ronaldo is debatable at the least.

Minute 43: We’re nearing half time and United should be the happier side to end the first half with a 0-0 score.

Minute 38: A free kick taken by Deco lacks force and the ball rolls into the hands of Edwin van der Sar.

Minute 37: Owen Hargreaves hurts his leg or foot and seems to be in pain. He continues though, and United can only hope that they won’t need to change their already damaged defense, as several others are injured.

Minute 34: Eto’o shoots from the edge of the penalty area but the effort is blocked by two defenders. After a phase in which United regained some confidence, Barcelona now take the initiative once again.

Minute 29: Iniesta gives away the ball and allows Ronaldo to close in on Victor Valdes, but Marquez manages to conquer the ball. Ronaldo falls and wants a penalty, but the referee makes the right decision by not listening to the United forward.

Minute 29: Barcelona keep passing from one player to the next but it does look like Manchester’s defense is well positioned at the moment as the Spanish can’t find the way through.

Minute 25: Xavi backheels the ball to Iniesta and the latter gets a chance to shoot, but the attempt goes wide.

Minute 21: This match is mostly taking place on United’s half. Barcelona keep pressing and clearly show what their intentions are.

Minute 17: Manchester goalie Van der Sar has had better days. The Dutchman gave away the ball twice already and looks a bit insecure.

Minute 14: Barcelona earn a free kick just outside Manchester’s penalty area. Rafael Marquez tries his luck but his low shot hits the wall.

Minute 11: Andres Iniesta comes down the left wing but his pass goes just behind Deco. The Portuguese would have had a huge chance if he hadn’t missed the ball.

Minute 9: Barcelona show motivation as Messi finds his way into the penalty area. A defender stands in the way but the ball finds Zambrotta. The Italian’s shot doesn’t reach the goal however.

Minute 6: A hectic start to this match. Argentinian Gabriel Milito clearly handled the ball and referee Busacca had no other choice but to point to the penalty spot. Milito tried to make up for his mistake by intimidating Ronaldo and it seems to have worked as the effort bounced onto the crossbar.

Minute 3: PENALTY MISS – Cristiano Ronaldo hits the crossbar and the score remains 0-0.

Minute 2: PENALTY TO MANCHESTER UNITED as Milito handles the ball.

Minute 2: A free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo is deflected by a defender, but the ball goes well over.

Minute 1: The match is underway at a filled Camp Nou. Red, Blue and Yellow colour the stands, where a giant mosaic has been designed to motivate Barcelona’s players even more than they should already be.