No excuses from Barcelona

Barcelona coach Carles Rexach refused to look for excuses after his side were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid, who now meet Bayer Leverkusen in the Final.

Barcelona looked the better side in last night's 1-1 semi-final, second leg draw at the Bernabeu but last week's 2-0 home defeat was too much to overcome.

With a car bomb exploding near the stadium only hours before the match and Rivaldo out injured, it might have been easy for Rexach to blame outside influences for his side's exit.

But he said: "Real Madrid scored a high percentage of their chances and we didn't."

Raul put Real 3-0 up on aggregate with a rising drive on the stroke of half-time before an Ivan Helguera own goal gave Barcelona an equaliser.