FCBARCELONA.CAT

29.04.2010 12:46

Total dominance when the ball was in play

Jordi Clos

In the second leg of the Champions League semi final between Barça and Inter, we saw the best attack come up against the best defence. The match stats reveal all.

- Of the 96 minutes of play, the ball was in play for 41.

- Of the 55 minutes of real play, 43 of them saw Barça with the ball and just 12 with Inter.

- Barça had an average possession of 80%. They made 812 passes, but Inter just 164. So, Xavi (154), almost made as many passes as all of Inter.

- Inter made constant use of the resource of Julio César kicking the ball to nobody. The Brazilian ended the most moves: 27. Valdés didn’t end any, and Barça player who lost the ball most was Messi (19).

- The home side shot 17 times and the visitors just once. Only four of FCB’s hots were on target.

- Inter set up an almost impenetrable wall. Barça crossed into the area 64 times but Mourinho’s defence cleared as many as 92 balls.

- Like at the Giuseppe Meazza, the defending champions committed more fouls (20) than the neroazurri (14). But the Catalans got just one yellow, while the Italians had four and a red.

- The incommensurable Piqué recovered the most balls, 15, and also scored the game’s only goal.

- Barça ended the game with seven youth team products on the field. Not one Italian appeared in the Inter side.