Barcelona claimed Monday that Inter Milan will have an unfair advantage in the Champions League semifinal first leg because the holder has 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 Sunday evening in a bus, making a stopover in Cannes before completing the 1,000km road trip to Milan 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 champion departed Barcelona Sunday at around 2 P.M. and arrived at its hotel in Milan 24 hours later. Its trip included an overnight stay in Cannes in France. Barca's key midfielder Iniesta will not be in the squad for the first leg after a recurrence of a right thigh injury that already kept him out of the starting lineup for the quarterfinal victory over Arsenal. Inter will be grateful for any assistance from circumstances after watching Barcelona beat Arsenal 6-3 on aggregate. World and European player of the year Lionel Messi sat out training Sunday but is in coach Pep Guardiola's 20-man squad and is set to start, two weeks after scoring all four goals in the 4-1 second-leg win over the Gunners. With left-back Eric Abidal back in the squad after recovering from a thigh injury, Iniesta is the only high-profile absentee. The 25-year-old Spain international was hurt on March 27. The competition's other semifinalists are Lyon and Bayern Munich, who play Wednesday, and the French club said Sunday it 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 this semifinal tie will be completely different from the two matches between the two teams earlier in the season and he forecast a close contest 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 semifinal 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.
