Champions League: Internazionale v Barcelona semi-final first leg

With Barcelona having to make the 621 mile journey to Milan by coach rather than by air due to the travel restrictions in place due to the volcanic ash cloud, their sporting director Txiki Begiristain has claimed that this gives the Italian side an "unfair advantage". If he sees this fan's banner, Begiristain may also start to think that maybe it wasn't Mother Nature behind the eruption in Iceland...
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Just one minute into the match and Barca have their first chance of the game, the ball is crossed to the edge of the six yard box where Zlatan Ibrahimovic is waiting, but rather than powering a header towards the Inter goal he rather lazily just sticks out one of his long legs but misses the ball and the chance goes begging
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Five minutes later Lionel Messi takes on the Inter defence for the first time and scuttles towards the penalty area where on the edge of the area Esteban Cambiasso sticks out a leg which Messi gratefully falls over. Luckily for the home side the penalty appeals are half-hearted and the referee doesn't seem interested
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Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita is easily barged out of the way by Inter's Samuel Eto'o
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Barcelona's early pressure finally pays off in the 19th minute when Maxwell marauds down the left flank with Inter's Maicon hardly bothering to chase back, the Barca full-back then pulls a diagonal ball back across the face of the Inter goal to Pedro Rodriguez who is 15 yards out and strokes the ball home to give Barca the lead ...
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... and then finds himself buried amongst his ecstatic team-mates
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Either it's cold in Milan or the Barcelona supporters are happy that their team has taken the lead
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Harry Mou attempts to get use his powers to get his team to score or cause another volcano to erupt Photograph: AP

Barcelona's Maxwell, right, stretches to keep the ball away from Inter's Eto'o
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Barça's lead lasts less than 10 minutes when an unmarked Wesley Sneijder slots home from 15 yards following a lovely lay-off from Diego Milito
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At the start of the second half Messi gives the ball away which allows Inter to embark on a counter-attack. The ball is played out to Milito in the right channel and he squares it to Maicon, who scuffs it past the challenge of one defender before poking past Valdes to make it 2-1
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The normally mecurial Messi had a relatively quiet night and on this occassion finds himself crowded out by black and blue striped shirts
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Just past the hour mark and Inter increase their lead, albeit in a controversial manner, as there is more than a whiff of offside about Milito's goal. Before he headed home from two yards out, Milito was in an offside position when Sneijder tried to score with a header and the striker knew it, even looking across at the linesman before celebrating
Photograph: Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters

... and then celebrates his goal with fellow scorer Maicon...
Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

... and then Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes tells the linesman what he thinks of his decision not to flag for offside
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With his team 3-1 down Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola starts to feel the pressure as his team's grip on the Champions League trophy is loosened slightly
Photograph: Tony Gentile/Reuters

With three minutes remaining Barcelona defender Gerard Pique goes forward again in a desperate push for a goal. He rounds Inter keeper Julio Cesar but the ball runs away from him and a defender nips in to hoof the ball clear
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As the match goes into four minutes of injury time, Barcelona are throwing everything bar the kitchen sink at Inter in an effort to grab another away goal which could prove vital in the second leg. Pedro Rodriguez even tries an overhead kick from the edge of the area but it doesn't trouble Inter keeper Julio Cesar who gratefully clutches the ball to his chest. Inter must be glad of the brief respite as for the last 10 minutes of the match they have only had a measlily 2% of the possession
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The final whistle goes and the final score is Internazionale 3-1 Barça. It was a marvellous game of football to watch but the reigning champions must feel aggrieved to be have lost as they had the lions share of the possession and had three possible penalties not given in their favour. It's no wonder feelings were running high and there are reports of Xavi and Mourinho clashing in the tunnel with the Barca midfielder claiming Inter only won because of the referee and Jose's shared nationality. Though they do have an away goal to take back to Camp Nou, their coach journey back there is going to feel a lot further than 620 miles
Photograph: Daniel Dal Zennaro/EPA