REAL MADRID - BARCELONA HALF TIME: How the Champions League Semi-final is Playing Out

In one word, it can be described as uneventful.

The first half is over at the Santiago Bernabeu between rival Real Madrid Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final and there was little to make of it.

Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have not made an impact.

The first 45 minutes were marked by Barcelona in their traditional passing strategy. Both teams seemed to be feeling each other out for most of the match. Neither team mustered much of a real effort to score.

Real Madrid completed 124 passes, and 77 percent were successful. But Barcelona converted 398 passes as 91 percent were successful.

The best chance for either club came in the 11th minute, when David Villa's shot from distance was wide of a diving Iker Casillas.

In added time, Cristiano Ronaldo's shot was blocked by Victor Valdes, but the resulting rebound was offsides. Xavi had a decent chance in the opening minutes, but his shot lacked the speed to get by Casillas.

Dani Alves and Alvaro Arbeloa each picked up yellow cards.

Perhaps the most interesting event was a fight as the two teams went to the locker room. Backup goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto picked up a red card in the scuffle.

Said Rio Ferdinand on Twitter: This diving is a joke/embarrassing. When Pedro watches that do u think he'll think what was I doing!? Rugby players must laugh at football!