Cristiano Ronaldo

Barcelona: Barcelona and France defender Eric Abidal, who had surgery on a liver tumour in March, is hoping to be back to full fitness for the Champions League final at the end of this month.

Abidal drew by far the biggest cheer of the night at the Nou Camp on Tuesday when he came on as a substitute in the closing minutes of the semi-final second leg that Barca drew 1-1 with arch rivals Real Madrid to advance 3-1 on aggregate.

“I hope to be ready for the final,” the popular Abidal, who had been on superb form before the operation, told reporters.

“I have never experienced this before,” he added, referring to the incredible reception he was given by the nearly 100,000 fans thronging the vast arena.

“I can sense that the people love me and I love them too and will try to do my best for them on the pitch, as always. I am feeling fine, I didn’t do anything for three weeks and now I’m working hard. My dream was to come back and help the team with so many injuries.”

“I am happy for the group and the fans,” Abidal said.

They will return to London's Wembley stadium on May 28, the scene of their first triumph in Europe’s elite club competition in 1992, which Guardiola took part in as a player.

“Let’s see if we can complete the cycle,” Abidal added.

“I remember how they won in 1992 and I’d like to do it again. But there is a lot of training and matches in between, we have to take this game step by step.”

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo agrees with banned coach Jose Mourinho that Barcelona is given preferential treatment by Uefa.

Madrid missed out on a place in the final after losing the two-legged series 3-1 overall, although questionable referee decisions against Madrid in both legs took their toll.

Belgian referee Frank de Bleeckere waived away Gonzalo Higuain’s goal before Pedro Rodriguez notched Barcelona’s opener after judging Ronaldo fouled Javier Mascherano despite being pushed into the Argentine.

“Barcelona are very well protected - we knew something would happen,” Ronaldo said. “(Higuain’s) goal was legal. Pique pushed me and I fell on top of Mascherano, who never went to the ground in England, but here he’s learned that trade like the rest of them.”

“We knew if we scored a goal they would do everything possible so we wouldn’t get through. This isn’t good for football. If things don’t improve we should just stay home and let Barcelona play by themselves,” Ronaldo added. “Next year they should just give the cup directly to Barcelona.”