Boring

Handball?

On the stroke of half time, Barcelona had a good appeal for a penalty as a Messi free kick seemed to strike an arm. de Bleeckere ruled that it was not intentional and waved away the appeals; it was a fifty-fifty decision and I can understand why it wasn't given.

A bit of spice

At the end of normal time a bit of frustration reared its head, as Messi and Srna squared up to each other, both attempting a headbutt. While this sort of behaviour can often result in red cards, de Bleeckere simply booked both. I think that this was probably the right thing to do since both players were equally to blame and no harm was done. The referee used a fair bit of common sense in that decision.

Good again

Once again, I must praise de Bleeckere for his reading of the match; his anticipation of play is admirable and he is always in a good position to make an important decision. Furthermore, while all the players were obviously tiring in extra time, de Bleeckere was still running around like a man possessed. The first booking of the match, when Ilshino committed two fouls in a minute, was a fine example of how to control a match.