Since the 2008/09 season, Barça have gone through in 93% of ties over two legs, including the Champions League, the Spanish Cup, and the Spanish Super Cup
In the tie against AC Milan, FC Barcelona outplayed the Italians in almost every facet of the game, for example in goal chances (38 to 8)
Benfica or Chelsea, Barca’s possible rivals, have it crude if they are already thinking about the Final in Munich. This phrase is not gratuitous, but based on Barca’s effectiveness in elimination games over two legs. Since they beat Wisla Crakòvia in the Champions League qualifier in the summer of 2008, Guardiola’s Barça have gone through to the next round in 27 of the 29 ties they’ve played (they only failed in 2009/10, against Sevilla in the Spanish Cup, and against Inter in the Champions League). AC Milan was their last victim.
Here are some important facts and statistic that came out of the game against Milan:
– Over the 2 two games, Barça were superior to AC Milan in almost all aspects: goal chances (38 to 8), shots on goal (13 to 3), ball possession (61% to 39%) and fouls committed (18 to 33)
– Leo Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic came into the quarterfinal leg as the main offensive references for Barça and Milan, respectively. After 180 minutes, the balance is overwhelming: Messi, 2 goals from 13 chances (8 shots on goal), Ibra, no goals, and only 1 shot on goal.
– In fact, the Argentinian already has 14 goals in the Champions League this season, equalling Altafini (AC Milan), who in 1963 set the record for being top scorer in the Champions League in one season. Messi now has scored 51 goals in the Champions League, and is already the third highest scorer in history, behind only Raul (71) and Van Nisterlooy (56).
– It’s the fifth consecutive time that Barça have reached the semifinals of the Champions, a feat that no other club has achieved (Manchester United and Juventus had done it 4 times in a row). In the old European Cup, Di Stefano’s Real Madrid also got to five consecutive semis.
– With Tuesday’s game at Camp Nou, Guardiola reached 50 as manager in the Champions League, while Dani Alves has now played 200 games in a Barça shirt. In addition, Carles Puyol is now the second player with more games for Barca (550), after overtaking Miguel.
– Just like in the Final of the World Club Championship in Japan, Guardiola lined-up his team with 9 players brought up through the youth set-up in the starting eleven, only Masherano and Alves had not come through the Academy.
– The Camp Nou witnessed the second best crowd of the season at home (94,629 spectators), just behind the Barça-Madrid Spanish Cup game (95,486)