Barca set for UEFA protest

Barcelona will consult UEFA to highlight their displeasure at having to play the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid on a waterlogged pitch.

Various parts of the playing surface appeared to have been drenched in water ahead of the game and yet the Spanish capital had enjoyed fine weather, without rain, for a number of days.

Barca chairman Joan Gaspart believes that Real's groundsmen deliberately soaked the pitch to make playing much harder.

He said after the game that Barca would be making a formal complaint to UEFA.

"The water on top of the water served to make playing football impossible, to slow the ball down," Gaspart said.

"That's what we have explained to UEFA officials after the game. But I want to make it clear that this is not an excuse for having lost the tie."