Barcelona bemoans bus trip to Milan

Barcelona claimed Monday that Inter Milan will have an unfair advantage in the Champions League semi-final first leg because the holders have had to make the long trip to Italy by coach.

Air travel restrictions imposed due to the cloud of volcanic ash over Europe forced Barcelona to set out on Sunday evening in a bus, making a stopover in Cannes before completing the 1,000 kilometre road trip to Milan on Monday.

Barca sporting director Txiki Begiristain commented: “UEFA must be flexible.

“I know that there aren?t enough dates to play but in the end you have to make an effort so as not to give one team an advantage, in this case the home team.

“At this moment in time, making a team travel by coach belongs to a bygone age,” he told Barca TV ahead of Tuesday’s match.

“I would have made the effort to bring forward some league matches to leave a weekend free for the Champions League. Something should have been done not to give this advantage to the home team,” he added.

The reigning European champions departed Barcelona on Sunday at around 2 pm and arrived at their hotel in Milan 24 hours later. Their trip included an overnight stay in Cannes in France.

The competition’s other semi-finalists are Lyon and Bayern Munich, who play on Wednesday, and the French club said Sunday they had no choice but to adopt similar measures.

Inter Milan and Barcelona have already met in the group stages with the San Siro game finishing in a 0-0 stalemate before Barca put on a masterclass in a 2-0 win at the Camp Nou.

Txiki said that this semi-final tie will be completely different from the two matches between the two teams earlier in the season and he predicted a close contest on Tuesday.

“Inter are a strong team who like to be in control. They?ll run fewer risks than us. However, Barca is strong and we won?t let the opposition have any chances,” he said.

“It?ll be highly intense with a big dose of defensive concentration. A Champions League semi-final is already tense by definition. At the end of the day it?s the referee?s job to decide how far that aggression can go.”

Nearly seven million passengers have been affected by the airspace closures which governments say are essential for safety reasons.