Real Madrid CF will be hoping things happen in threes as they welcome arch-rivals FC Barcelona for the first leg of this eagerly awaited all-Spanish UEFA Champions League semi-final.
Madrid have got the better of Barcelona twice before at this stage of the competition en route to lifting the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, in 1960 and 2002.
That history, allied with José Mourinho’s 2009/10 semi-final success against Barcelona with FC Internazionale Milano and his Madrid side’s Copa del Rey final victory against the Catalan club on 20 April, offers Madrid hope of reaching the final at Wembley despite the recent supremacy enjoyed by Josep Guardiola’s Azulgrana in fixtures between these eternal rivals.
