Cristiano: " If things don't improve we should just stay home and let Barcelona play by themselves"

Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the most withering put-down as theBarcelona-Real Madrid feud resumed on a stormy night at the Camp Nou. "Javier Mascherano wasn't like this at Liverpool. He must have learned all these cheating tricks at Barcelona," the Real striker said of his former rival from their Premier League days.

Real left Barcelona still trying to settle scores as Pep Guardiola's team progressed to the final at Wembley on 28 May. Ronaldo, who made his name at Manchester United, tangled with Mascherano often when the pair were in England and was sure to leave his mark on his old rival as Barça weighed up a probable clash with United after their 3-1 aggregate victory.

José Mourinho's side were upset by the disallowing of Gonzalo Higuaín's 47th-minute goal after Mascherano tumbled theatrically to the turf following contact from a falling Ronaldo, who himself had been tripped. That would have put Real 1-0 up on the night, and Xabi Alonso, who was also at Liverpool, said: "[Had] we scored the first goal it would have been totally different and we feel so many bad decisions have been made against us and we are not happy about that. We think we did a good job but decisions went against us, we really feel that way."

Warming to the theme Ronaldo said: "There was nothing wrong with the goal, that could have altered the course of the match but the referee didn't want to see it that way. Those who know about football know that Barcelona are very well protected. We just have to live with these injustices.

"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. Next year they should just give the cup directly to Barcelona."

Aitor Karanka, Mourinho's assistant, added: "If what happened the other day [in the first leg] hadn't happened – if Pepe hadn't been dismissed – we could have been there [in the final]."

Mourinho was serving a touchline ban following his sending-off in Madrid and is believed to have watched the game from his hotel room. "José was not on the bench, he couldn't get in the dressing room so I don't know where he's been," Karanka claimed. "He said congratulations to the team. He's outraged about what we've seen in the last few games. Madrid fans have seen the way the team is. When they let us play – we played, and we even won [in the Copa del Rey final]. We proved we can play the game. Every time we've been 11 versus 11 we've stood up to them. Everyone said it [Higuaín's] was a legal goal."

Guardiola twisted his own knife. "I want to congratulate Madrid for being so daring, playing face to face," he said. "I have an infinite gratitude to my players. We will go again to Wembley to try to win our fourth European Cup. Let's rest now and see if we can get the four points we need to win the league. Madrid have nine Champions League titles, they are the richest team in the world. We knew that. But we didn't lose our essence, except for the first 10 minutes of this second leg. The whole round has been intense and we're very satisfied with what we've done. We are a great club, a great institution, and now we want to close La Liga before the final step."

The four-game series ended with two draws and one win apiece, with Real taking the Spanish Cup but Barcelona seizing the much bigger prize of a Champions League final place. Uefa is expected to decide on Friday on a raft of disciplinary issues facing both clubs.

Not that Guardiola was ecstatic about appearing at the Football Association's expensive monument, the scene of his European Cup triumph as a Barcelona player. He said: "It would be better if we could go to the old Wembley, with the charisma it had."