CL Tops & Flops - Semi Final Second Legs

Lyon and Barcelona were on a do-or-die comeback mission this week as they looked to overcome daunting first leg deficits in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Both teams entered their respective home ties with optimism and confidence, but neither managed to get the job done, although the results on the night were vastly different.

Bayern Munich cruised into the May 22 Santiago Bernabeu final with ease and style as they swept past OL 3-0 at the Stade Gerland thanks to a stunning Ivica Olic hat-trick. Inter, meanwhile, revisited the glory days of catenaccio football as they locked out Barca for 85 minutes and a solitary Gerard Pique striker was simply not enough for the departing champions to overturn a 3-1 first leg reverse at San Siro.

As always, there were tops and flops from these games. Goal.com takes a look…

TOPS

Ivica Olic (Bayern Munich)

No surprises here. The under-rated Croatian international sent Bayern into the final in some style as he notched up a hat-trick to complete a 4-0 aggregate rout over Lyon in the first semi-final. His 26th minute opener was decisive as it gave his team the vital away goal that they were looking for and it knocked the sails out of the French outfit. His other two strikes were beautifully taken and to top it off, he is now well in the race to take the competition’s Golden Boot, as he currently sits in second place with seven goals, one behind Lionel Messi but with a final to play.

Lucio + Walter Samuel (Inter)

Javier Zanetti was the defensive linchpin in the first leg as he completely neutralized Messi’s threat. But in the return leg at the Camp Nou, it was Brazilian stalwart Lucio and his chief collaborator Walter Samuel, two South Americans, who would make any catenaccio master proud. The duo combated every type of attack Barca could muster. Crosses and high balls were easily dealt with, the aerial and physical presence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic was nullified, and their tackles, interceptions and challenges were timed to perfection.

Gerard Pique (Barcelona)

One man who did manage to break the Lucio-Samuel code was Pique. Granted, it was Xavi’s through ball that unlocked the Inter backline, but the center-back took his opportunity like a seasoned center-forward, coolly controlling the pass with a nice first touch before spinning past Ivan Cordoba and Julio Cesar and finishing off his move with a clinical strike. Prior to that lifeline goal, he was phenomenal in defense. Although he had little to do by way of tackling and marking, he was instrumental in bringing the ball forward after breaking up Inter’s counter-attacks.

Esteban Cambiasso (Inter)

The entire two lines of defense set up by the Nerazzurri were rock solid, it has to be said, but was the first line of defense who was always the last man to clean up the trail of mess left by Lionel. His tireless work-rate in midfield also limited Xavi’s opportunity to pick out a killer pass and that alone may have won Inter the semi-final battle as it forced Barcelona to linger and waste precious time on the ball while at the same time compelling the Blaugrana to take fruitless attempts at goal out of frustration.

FLOPS

Cris (Lyon)

The captain and the rock of the OL defense crumbled to the ground with an insipid performance against Bayern. He was nowhere to be seen inside his own box in Olic’s crucial opening goal and he went missing for the remainder of the game until his sending off in the 59th minute. His void was gratefully exploited by the Bavarians as Olic went on to bag two more to bring a nightmarish end to Les Gones Champions League run. A disappointment to see a captain let his team down.

Thiago Motta (Inter)

The Brazilian’s early dismissal at the Camp Nou proved to be academic in the end as Inter hung on to claim their place in the final, which he will, however, miss. His straight red card may have been harsh and Sergio Busquets may be accused of a bit of over-acting, but Motta was foolish to have raised his hand needlessly to his opponent’s face, which would have been a bookable offense anyway, having already been yellow carded 18 minutes earlier. His post-red card confrontation with Busquets didn’t help his cause either.

Gaby vs Diego Milito

The much-hyped sibling rivalry didn’t quite materialize into the all-out war on the field. Fans who had heard about or seen the Milito brothers squaring off back in their early days in Argentina in the Avellaneda clasico were eager to see a rematch, but it simply didn’t happen. Gaby was deployed wide left by Pep Guardiola while Diego, operating as the lone striker, barely had a touch of the ball before his younger brother was substituted at half-time. In fact, they didn’t even have direct contact once in the entire 45 minutes, other than the exchange of pleasantries before kick-off.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona)

Ibrahimovic was never going to have an average game. He was either going to be Barcelona’s hero, or a big zero. Unfortunately for him and the Blaugrana, it was the latter. Unlike in the first leg, Zlatan saw plenty of the ball this time. He peeled out wide on occasion to help the attacking build-up, he had countless crosses and decent through balls come his way, he got into threatening positions, but never once did he cause any danger inside the Inter box. Only had one shot in the 63 minutes he was on the pitch, and even that went wide. From a freekick.

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