Madrid relieved Barcelona aren't in Champions League final (Feature)

By Duncan Shaw May 18, 2010, 6:04 GMT

Madrid ­ A massive collective sigh of relief could be heard coming out of Madrid on the night of April 28.

That was the night when Barcelona could only beat Inter Milan 1-0 at home, and therefore failed to reach the final of the Champions League, which will be played in Madrid on May 22.

The official line of Real Madrid ­ in whose Estadio Santiago Bernabeu the final will be staged ­ was that Barca would have been made welcome in Madrid had they reached the final. Club president Florentino Perez said earlier in April, at the media presentation of the final, that we will make Barcelona feel at home, if they manage to reach the final.'

But unofficially, Real clearly did not want Barca to make it ­ and are mightily relieved that they have not done so.

The only Real player to come out openly and say this was Cristiano Ronaldo, who declared that I would prefer Inter in the final, and I think that most Real fans feel the same way.'

The prospect of Barca captain Carles Puyol picking up the famous trophy, for the second year running, in an Estadio Bernabeu packed with Catalans, was a horrible one for fans of Real.

As soon as the final whistle sounded in Barcelona and Inter coach Jose Mourino provocatively celebrated on the Camp Nou turf, hundreds of madridista' fans celebrated Barcas elimination in the capitals Plaza de Cibeles, the downtown plaza where Reals triumphs are traditionally celebrated.

In many ways, it was payback time' for Barca.

In 1999 ­ the last time that the final was staged in Spain ­ most Catalans were relieved that Real did not reach the final.

And on March 10 many Barca fans celebrated in the streets Reals surprise elimination from the Champions League, at the round of 16 stage, against surprise package Olympique Lyon.

Real had been desperate to reach the final because of the fact that it was being staged in the Bernabeu. This was one of the reasons why Perez had splashed out more than 260 million euros (330 million dollars) on eight players last summer, including Ronaldo, in a record-breaking spending spree.

However, it was not Perezs decision to request to stage the final, and he appeared to be uncomfortable with that decision.

The request had been made in 2008 by his predecessor in the presidency, Ramon Calderon, and he was delighted at UEFAs decision.

In January 2009, however, Calderon was forced to resign after sports daily Marca ­ which has always been close to Perez ­ revealed that he had sneaked false delegates into the clubs annual general meeting.

Perez realized that staging the final increased the pressure on his expensive team to reach it, and his fears were borne out by the Lyon elimination, the sixth consecutive time that the whites have fallen in the round of 16.

So neither Real nor Barca will be in the final, but rather Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.

The shopkeepers and restaraunteurs of Madrid are hoping that the arrival of around 80,000 German and Italian fans will give a much- needed boost to the depressed local economy. Around a third of these fans will arrive without tickets, and so the local ticket touts and scalpers are rubbing their hands together at the prospect of a quick killing.

The Spanish police do not expect too much trouble, but all leave for the weekend of May 21-23 has been cancelled, just in case.

This is the first Champions League final to be scheduled for Saturday, after 54 years of Wednesday finals.

The Estadio Bernabeu has already staged the final three times, in 1980, 1969 and 1957. It underwent a massive facelift in 2005 and, in consequence, was designated a five-star stadium' by UEFA.

To make the final even more interesting, it is rumoured that Real president Perez is keen to replace coach Manuel Pellegrini with Inters Mourinho ­ partly out of gratitude at Mou' having overcome Barca in the semis.