Barcelona hoping for third time lucky

FC Barcelona welcome Real Madrid CF for the return leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final hoping to make it third time lucky against their arch-rivals in Europe. Barcelona lost at this stage of the competition to Madrid in 1960 and 2002 but beat José Mourinho's men 5-0 at home in November and have not lost at the Camp Nou to the Merengues since December 2007.

• The Blaugrana also hold a two-goal cushion following the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, Lionel Messi scoring twice late on (76, 87) after Pepe's 61st-minute red card for Madrid.

Previous meetings
• This is the last of four encounters between the clubs in 18 days. Madrid ended a run of five league losses to Barcelona with a 1-1 home draw on 16 April, then beat them 1-0 in the Copa del Rey final on 20 April. They ended both games with ten men, respectively losing Raúl Albiol and Ángel Di María.

• Barcelona recorded a 5-0 victory in the teams' first meeting this season at the Camp Nou on 29 November, Xavi Hernández, Pedro Rodríguez, David Villa (2) and Jeffren getting the goals with Madrid losing Sergio Ramos to an 89th-minute red card.

• The head-to-head record between the clubs in all competitions is 86 wins for Madrid, 83 for Barcelona and 43 draws. At the Camp Nou Barcelona have won 47, Madrid 18 with 16 draws.

• Madrid won 3-1 at Barcelona in the second leg of their 1959/60 European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-final, wrapping up a 6-2 aggregate success. They went on to lift the trophy by beating Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3.

• In the first round the following season, Barcelona became the first team to knock Madrid out of the European Cup, a 2-2 draw in the Spanish capital preceding a 2-1 home triumph.

• Vicente del Bosque's Madrid beat Carlos Rexach's Barcelona in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League semi-finals, winning 2-0 at the Camp Nou before a 1-1 home draw. As in 1960, the victory was the springboard for a final triumph against German opposition in Glasgow, this time 2-1 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

• The lineups for that first leg at the Camp Nou on 23 April 2002 were:
Barcelona: Bonano, Reiziger (Geovanni 59), De Boer, Abelardo (Christanval 73), Cocu, Motta (Gabri García 82), Overmars, Rochemback, Luis Enrique, Kluivert, Saviola.
Real Madrid: César, Salgado, Roberto Carlos, Hierro, Pavón, Helguera, Solari (Flávio Conceição 89), Makelele, Guti (McManaman 80), Zidane, Raúl González.

• Iker Casillas and Aitor Karanka, today Madrid's captain and assistant coach respectively, were unused substitutes on the away bench. Xavi and Carles Puyol played for Barcelona in the second leg.

Match background
• Three-time winners Barcelona are playing in their 12th semi-final. They have won five and lost six:
2009/10 FC Internazionale Milano: 1-3 (a), 1-0 (h)
2008/09 Chelsea FC: 0-0 (h), 1-1 (a)
2007/08 Manchester United FC: 0-0 (h), 0-1 (a)
2005/06 AC Milan: 1-0 (a), 0-0 (h)
2001/02 Real Madrid CF: 0-2 (h), 1-1 (a)
1999/2000 Valencia CF: 1-4 (a), 2-1 (h)
1993/94 FC Porto: 3-0 (h)
1985/86 IFK Göteborg: 0-3 (a), 3-0 (h, 5-4 pens)
1974/75 Leeds United AFC: 1-2 (a), 1-1 (h)
1960/61 Hamburger SV: 1-0 (h), 1-2 (a), 1-0 (replay)
1959/60 Real Madrid CF: 1-3 (a), 1-3 (h)

• Nine-time winners Madrid are seeking to reach a 13th European Cup final from a record 22nd semi-final appearance. Their record is W12 L9:
2002/03 Juventus: 2-1 (h), 1-3 (a)
2001/02 FC Barcelona: 2-0 (a), 1-1 (h)
2000/01 FC Bayern München: 0-1 (h), 1-2 (a)
1999/2000 FC Bayern München: 2-0 (h), 1-2 (a)
1997/98 Borussia Dortmund: 2-0 (h), 0-0 (a)
1988/89 AC Milan: 1-1 (h), 0-5 (a)
1987/88 PSV Eindhoven: 1-1 (h), 0-0 (a)
1986/87 FC Bayern München: 1-4 (a), 1-0 (h)
1980/81 FC Internazionale Milano: 2-0 (h), 0-1 (a)
1979/80 Hamburger SV: 2-0 (h), 1-5 (a)
1975/76 FC Bayern München: 1-1 (h), 0-2 (a)
1972/73 AFC Ajax: 1-2 (a), 0-1 (h)
1967/68 Manchester United FC: 0-1 (a), 3-3 (h)
1965/66 FC Internazionale Milano: 1-0 (h), 1-1 (a)
1963/64 FC Zürich: 2-1 (a), 6-0 (h)
1961/62 R. Standard de Liège: 4-0 (h), 2-0 (a)
1959/60 FC Barcelona: 3-1 (h), 3-1 (a)
1958/59 Club Atlético de Madrid: 2-1 (h), 0-1 (a), 2-1 (n)
1957/58 Vasas SC: 4-0 (h), 0-2 (a)
1956/57 Manchester United FC: 3-1 (h), 2-2 (a)
1955/56 AC Milan: 4-2 (h), 1-2 (a)

• Madrid have recorded three victories and two draws on their travels, but Barcelona have won all five home games in this season's competition, scoring 17 goals.

• In two-legged European ties against Spanish clubs Madrid have recorded four aggregate wins out of five, including three European Cup semi-final successes. They also overcame Valencia CF 3-0 in the 2000 final in Paris.

• Barcelona's record against Spanish rivals in two-legged European encounters is three wins and five defeats, including three European Cup semi-final reverses. In their last fixture they went down 3-0 to Sevilla FC in the 2006 UEFA Super Cup, a match featuring present Azulgrana players Daniel Alves and Adriano in the opposition lineup.

• Barcelona have progressed 30 out of the 32 times they won the away first leg in UEFA competition, including all six in which the away leg finished 2-0 in their favour. They have let a two-goal advantage slip, however, a 4-2 win at FC Metz preceding a 4-1 home reverse in the 1984/85 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round.

• Madrid have lost the home first leg five times in UEFA competition and won only one tie, recovering from a 1-0 loss with a 2-0 win at Schwarz-Weiss Tirol Innsbruck in the 1970/71 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round. Only twice in the UEFA Champions League era has a team turned round a tie after a home first-leg defeat.

• Barcelona's shoot-out record in UEFA competition is:
5-4 v Lech Poznán, 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
0-2 v FC Steaua Bucureşti, 1985/86 European Champion Clubs' Cup final
5-4 v IFK Göteborg, 1985/86 European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-final
4-1 v RSC Anderlecht, 1978/79 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
3-1 v Ipswich Town FC, 1977/78 UEFA Cup third round
5-4 v AZ Alkmaar, 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round

• Madrid's record is:
3-1 v Juventus, 1986/87 European Champion Clubs' Cup second round
5-6 v FK Crvena zvezda, 1974/75 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals

Team ties
• Mourinho served as an assistant to Sir Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal at Barcelona from 1996 to 2000. His Chelsea FC team overcame Barcelona 5-4 on aggregate in the 2004/05 last 16 but suffered a 3-2 overall loss at the same stage the next season. In the 2006/07 group stage Chelsea won 1-0 at home and drew 2-2 away. Last term Mourinho's Inter beat Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

• Mourinho's UEFA Champions League semi-final record reads W2 L2. He led FC Porto past RC Deportivo La Coruña in 2004 but his Chelsea team lost to Liverpool FC in 2005 and 2007.

• Guardiola played in the Barcelona team that won the European Cup at the old Wembley in 1992.

• Madrid's Casillas, Raúl Albiol, Álvaro Arbeloa, Ramos and Xabi Alonso joined Barcelona's Víctor Valdés, Gerard Piqué, Puyol, Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Pedro and David Villa in Spain's FIFA World Cup-winning squad last summer.

• Javier Mascherano was a team-mate of Jerzy Dudek, Alonso and Arbeloa at Liverpool. Mascherano, Arbeloa and Alonso were in the Liverpool side that defeated Mourinho and Ricardo Carvalho's Chelsea in the 2007 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Lassana Diarra was an unused substitute.

• Ronaldo, Pepe and Carvalho were on the losing side for Portugal against Spain in the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup. Villa scored the only goal and Piqué, Puyol, Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi and Pedro also featured for Spain.