Uefa inflexible, claim Barça

BARCELONA technical secretary Txiki Begiristain has hit out at Uefa for not doing more to help clubs whose travel plans this week have been thrown into chaos by the volcanic ash cloud that has left air travel stricken.

Barca arrived yesterday morning in Milan after a marathon coach journey from Catalonia ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Inter.

And while Begiristain insisted Barca would not suffer the effects of fatigue in the match, he is still unhappy Uefa showed no flexibility when it came to the possibility of postponing the fixture.

"Uefa must be flexible," he said. "I know 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.

"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."