Barcelona 's first leg clash with Valencia ended in turmoil as a once confident Spanish side lost to their more committed comrades 4-1 in a self warranted semifinal match, Tuesday, at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia.
Valencia's early scorer was Migel Angel Angulo who scored twice, once in the 10th minute and the other after Barcelona's Dutch winger Boudewijn Zenden gave the team a 1-1 equalizer.
Valencia widened the scoring difference when Gaizka Mendieta shot the ball seconds before halftime and an injury-time goal by Argentine striker Claudio "Piojo" Lopez tallied the final score to 4-1.
Valencia meanwhile is now on the verge of its first ever Champions' Cup final appearance after the tremendous victory over their Spanish rivals.
Whereas Barcelona is taking comfort from the fact that they have already beaten
VALENCIA 3-0 ON HOME TERRITORY THIS SEASON
Real Madrid persistent to stop hat-trick
As Real Madrid become persistent in their pursuit of an eighth European Cup they must first challenge their tough opponents Bayern Munich and prevent hat-trick defeats.
The Spaniards who have already suffered two humiliating defeats of the same championship by Bayern Munich is expected to seek revenge.
According to Bayern Munich's president Franz Beckenbauer who was quoted through Reuters saying, "Real Madrid will not have forgotten what happened before and these are two completely different matches. We are going to Spain with a lot of respect for them."
Jupp Heynckes, who has coached at both clubs and guided Real Madrid to their historic seventh European Cup title in 1998, also thinks Bayern will not progress with the ease many German pundits are predicting after the earlier encounters saying it would almost be impossible to repeat the 4-2 victory they got during the second group phase - (Several Sources).
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