Old Wenger

Do you remember that Friends episode when the other five find out that Phoebe has never seen the end of tear-jerking films such as Its A Wonderful Life and Old Yeller, never realising that Old Yeller is shot by his owner. Something struck me as odd last night listening to the reaction of the Arsenal v Barcelona Champions League tie where the Spanish holders won 2-0 to be in the driving seat before the second leg in three weeks time at the Camp Nou.

If Arsenal are eliminated it will be the sixth consecutive season they have been eliminated from the first knockout round of Europe's most prestigious competition without troubling their rivals.  True, they have been unlucky in drawing the elite clubs. Yet that is always the risk you take in predominantly finishing second in the group stages.

It happened again this season, when Arsenal were on the back foot immediately after losing in Prague and then at home to Olympiakos. Yes, they finished second but the risk of drawing a Barcelona was very real.

What was surprising was the way Wenger are '95%' through today and how frustrated Barcelona would be that they did not firmly put the tie to bed with a more emphatic scoreline. Yet Wenger's honourable reaction to the defeat not making excuses and virtually falling on his sword for his players own failings was eyebrow raising.

Following the desperate performance at home to Hull City in the FA Cup at the weekend, which came less than a week after the euphoric home victory against Leicester City, you do wonder why Wenger struggles to motivate his players and why he fails so often with bad selection policies.

From playing Olivier Giroud as a lone striker when a quicker forward like Walcott or even hard working Danny Welbeck to press high up the field and pester the Barcelona defenders would have played into a gameplan. Instead the Giroud selection smacked of tried and tested, failing to see the necessity to innovate or try and disrupt Barcelona's tempo, too much respect was given to the Catalans.

Wenger strikes me as a manager on his last legs, one who is living off of past glories and bereft of inspiration in terms of formulating a plan, a manager too loyal to players who do not warrant it and a man who looks like he is running out of time.

The past two years of FA Cup victories have given him a stay of execution. The golden chalice is the Premier League title, something that has not been in his hands for 11 seasons. And now he stands on the brink of losing that to not only a competitor but his club's fiercest rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. A team led by a vibrant young manager full of tactics and an insatiable hunger to succeed.

Arsene Wenger seems to think he has a divine right to the title and to challenge for it, and yet with the failings of Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool as challengers the title was there for the taking for Arsenal, and yet he slipped on his lines and failed to get the purchases in either transfer window to support his injury prone squad.

Should he lose the title to Tottenham, there will be a huge sense of embarrassment and bemusement at the Emirates. He might well retire or be put out of his misery; and just like Old Yeller, Arsenal and Arsene never saw it coming.

Villa's decision no surprise

Reports on Barcelona's club website report that they and Atletico Madrid have agreed a fee for the transfer of Spanish international, David Villa to move from the Catalan club to the nation's capital.

The deal is expected to be a maximum of 5.1m Euros (£4.4m) with Barcelona retaining the right to 50% sell on fee should Villa move on again.

This is upsetting to many a Tottenham Hotspur fan, for whom Villa seemed destined to become a new idol of  for the Lilywhites, however those rumours were more than likely a part of the gossip columns.

For Villa though, the decision to remain in his homeland is not a hard one.  At the end of next season, there is the World Cup and so for him to remain in the spotlight and back pages for Vicente Del Bosque to look over him week-in, week-out is a very tantalising caveat.

Villa has not really recovered from the broken leg he suffered in December 2011 during the World Club Championship in Japan.  He returned to the Barcelona side, very much second fiddle to the unstoppable Lionel Messi and was even losing playing time to Alexis Sanchez.  He leaves with a record of 48 goals in 119 games - not that great a record for one of Europe's elite strikers.

Much of the surprise about Tottenham being in the ring for Villa's services was the lack of European competition offered for the side, whereas Atletico will be in the Champions League next season, and he will be top dog after Falcao leaving for Monaco earlier this summer.

Villa's needs to regain his form as he is currently behind Fernando Torres in the Spanish striker power rankings after the Confederations Cup.

The search for a new striker at Tottenham continues with the expected departure of Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe, and Arsenal who were also chasing Villa's signature have just had an offer for Luis Suarez rejected today.

It has been a strange summer for strikers, with no-one really going where intended or expected to arrive at. Falcao was expected to go to Manchester City, instead he has gone to tax haven Monaco.  Mario Gomez left Bayern Munich to head for Fiorentina. Whilst the final destination of Edison Cavani, Luis Suarez and Wayne Rooney remains unclear.

The carousel is just cranking up, expect the ride to pick up speed soon enough.

This blog first appeared on The Sideline Agenda, click here for the link.

Follow me @JamieGarwood

Lonely at the Top

Highly respected French football journalist, Philippe Auclair who wrote the regarded autobiography of Eric Cantona, The Rebel Who Would Be King - returns with another tome on another French footballer who split opinion with his genius and gifts. Auclair this time focuses on Thierry Henry, the most prolific goalscorer in Arsenal football history.

From the front cover you get a close-up portrait of Mr.Henry which like the photo of Andre Agassi on his award-winning biography Open is very non-commital like the Mona Lisa - is Henry smiling or is he a little bit put out by doing this photo shoot?

Auclair takes as his thrust a way to dissect the inner psyche of a wounded genius; liking Henry to an artist who thought too much for his art and was never really understood.  This goes in contrast to the public image of Henry, especially during his glory years of Arsenal, when he bestrode many Premier League pitches as a master of his craft.  Henry shared with Cantona, that outward French arrogance of knowing he was really really good - Auclair has a great memory, this reviewer had forgotten the free-kick Henry had scored at Wigan when he scored looked at the referee - who had asked for a retake of the previous goal-bound effort - and asked, 'Is that good enough?' - a mixture of superiority and theatricality.  For fans of Arsenal, reading this book will be like recalling all your favourite Christmases.

Tellingly, too often in this day and age the stars of today are just that.  Fans of football only care about the here and now, fans are unaware of a player's route to glory, the hard road travelled.  Too often it is a matter of what are you doing for me now.  Just look at Chelsea, Didier Drogba has left and the fans have replaced him in their hearts with Eden Hazard and/or Oscar; the revolving door of football celebrity endorses this.

Henry is rightfully acclaimed as one of Arsenal's great players; he was the great goalscorer that came after Ian Wright.  He replaced Nicolas Anelka who left Arsenal fans heartbroken having won the double, yet he straddled two great sides.  Henry led the line of the side defended by the famous back five of Seaman, Dixon, Bould/Keown, Adams and Winterburn; and then was the fulcrum of the Invincibles in the 2003/04 season who won the league without losing a game, a first for the Premier League.

Auclair shows you all of Henry's stories, his father's journey from the West Indies (this reviewer presumed Henry's genetics laid in Northern Africa), the gift that was apparent in youth football, winning the World Cup in 1998 as a teenager and then the dismal World Cup showings in 2002 in Korea/Japan and ending on a sour note in South Africa 2010.

The only gripe of this book is the general tone of a genius misunderstood, Thierry Henry is one of those rare players who was highly respected from all corners of the globe, beloved by fans of the game so to set him out as woe is me individual who is misrepresented by his on pitch persona, marks him out as something akin to a Hollywood star or Broadway thespian, is it any surprise that Henry's career is ending in the bright lights of New York City where he is undoubtedly the star of the MLS show.

Henry's need to be the best does not make him a misunderstood soul, it makes him much like any naturally gifted athlete a man whose ego needs massaging.  Thierry Henry won every domestic and international competition during his playing career along with personal awards, yet to paint him as an unfulfilled participant in the world's most popular sport is somewhat bittersweet.

Lonely at the Top is published by Macmillan in hardback on 8th November for £17.99RRP
Philippe Auclair has been France Football's and RMC Radio's UK football correspondent for over a decade and is a prolific freelance journalist.  He is also a regular contributor to The Blizzard and Champions magazine.

Chelsea v Barcelona review

Chelsea take the plaudits, they beat Barcelona at home to take a 1-0 lead to the Nou Camp next week  for the vital second leg.

Barcelona could not beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, in a rivalry that has been built up over the last six years as their paths have crossed in group stages and knockout matches. Barcelona have not yet won in West London.  Lionel Messi has still not scored against an English side in an away match (the final at Wembley does not count as it was a neutral site).

Chelsea won in spite of giving up 79% of possession to the Catalan giants, they had three shots at goal and scored with the only shot on target - Didier Drogba's first half injury time winner as he swept in Ramires' square ball following Frank Lampard's counter-attacking thrust as he dispossessed Messi in midfield.

The reason the Champions League holders always struggle at Stamford Bridge is the small confines of the pitch measurements.  Barcelona play an incisive, neat and patient passing game looking for openings in a defence which may crack under the constant pressure.  Yet in contrast to the vast size of the Nou Camp dimensions, the Chelsea home is tight and so the tactic of Chelsea employing two banks of four as walls in which Barcelona had to get past was impressive.

There were fears of Gary Cahill being overawed by the occasion, yet the ex-Bolton defender had his most impressive outing yet in a blue shirt.  He dived at every ball, was strong and indicative of the resilience of his teammates - John Terry, the recalled Ivanovic and solid Ashley Cole.

They were matched by the solidity in midfield by Frank Lampard, Jon Obi Mikel and Raul Meireles - a trifecta who knew they had to bide their time to make an impact.  Miereles fouled a few times in the first 10 minutes as he was outwitted by the tricky of the Barca midfield.  Yet when they did, Lampard made it count.  A glorious ball released Ramires who laid it on a plate for Drogba, who stayed on his feet for possibly the longest all night to convert the match winning chance.

The second half was a vertiable bombardment from Barca - they hit the woodwork twice in the match, and was thwarted by Petr Cech and the do or die blocking of the Chelsea defence.  The last chance in injury time summed up Chelsea's achievement - a Messi shot blocked by Cahill, it falls into the path of Pedro who strokes it to the far post, a slight deflection from Cahill makes it hit the post as Ashley Cole again goes back to the line to cover, the richochet back to Busquets is blasted over as bodies go flying.  The chance of an away goal has gone, and the opportunity for parity is squandered.

This was a game of respect, usually past encounters have turned into a shouting match overshadowed by refereeing inconsistencies and controversy yet this was a game when the magic of Barcelona went missing. Their body language was lazy, not arrogant just a general ennui with the surroundings and meeting head on the defiant rearguard.

Some players were absent without leave, Cesc Fabregas' return to London was a poor one.  He had a great chance yet his soft lift over Cech allowed the tracking back of Cole to easily clear away the danger, he wafted an air shot at a chance that went begging.  There was always the lovely caressing of the ball, yet the gaps to slide the ball into the net were few and far between.  Messi's best chance was a header from 18 yards out that failed to trouble Cech.

Oddly, it went exactly as Fabregas recalled past Arsenal v Chelsea ties, 'We would dominate the ball, keep possession, create chances and then....a counter-attack, Drogba, goal! They have a super fast counter attack', how odd that it should happen again.

You can expect more of the same next Tuesday night at the Nou Camp.  It promises to be intense, intriguing and immense. 

Pep Guardiola says Chelsea are favourites, this may be an attempt at psychology, nonetheless the chance for Chelsea is there to reach Munich.

UCL: Where Complacency meets Inferiority

The Champions League proper is back, following the thrills and spills of Arsenal nearly succumbing to Udinese - the group stage and the smorgasborg of 16 games over 2 nights featuring the stars of world and European football.  However, whereas the Champions League was a unique idea when it originated in 1992/93, now we have a mish-mash of superior teams mixed with teams who although champions they are not up to standard.

And due to the UEFA co-efficients and rankings and pot seedings, you get some dynamic groups.  You need only look at Manchester City's group of death with Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal and then compare it with their city neighbour's snore-fest of Benfica, Basle and Gelati (of Romania, if you did not know). 

United are far and away the strongest English side with the largest depth available and yet Alex Ferguson had some problems following an international week and a PL fixture on Saturday evening.  He made numerous changes, gave David de Gea a much needed 'rest', Ashley Young is tired and he is still without his trusted central defensive pairing of Ferdinand and Vidic. 

United played a 4-3-3 of Lindegaard; Rafael, Evans, Smalling, Evra; Valencia,Fletcher, Carrick; Park, Giggs,Rooney. This side was deceptive, by flooding the midfield and picking Fletcher and Carrick, Ferguson hoped to nullify the emotional Benfica side that would be propelled by the passionate home support.  Giggs played off of Rooney who was very much mute all evening, Valencia rarely ventured forward and posed an attacking threat, whilst Park had to do a lot more defending than envisaged.

The team smacked of negativity, and yet Ferguson will believe he got a lot out of the game.  Players gained match minutes and if injuries do not clear then they can be called upon for the Chelsea game on Sunday, yet he must have a few questions.  What kind of statement does this performance give to the rest of Europe?  Contemporaries Bayern Munich and Real Madrid were both away from home and were dominant against lesser opposition, the difference being those two teams have harder groups.  United should top their group and will do with 3 home wins; and oddly the Champions League offers Ferguson a chance to utilise his squad options yet but for the weak finishing of Benfica's Nolito in the closing stages the campaign might have gotten off to the worst start. 

This complacency might haunt several teams, as it did Barcelona on Tuesday night when they did all the hard work against AC Milan coming back from a goal down to lead 2-1 gain 75% possession and yet concede a late set-piece goal which could be the difference between topping the group and coming second.  Barcelona have injury issues themselves - the first choice centre backs Pique and Puyol were out so Guardiola employed Mascherano and Busquets in central defence, and this lack of cohesion led to Alexandre Pato scoring after just 30 seconds.  Possession led to dominance and Barca had the lead after 50 minutes, yet they could not find the crucial third, as long as the score remained a goal difference Milan must have believed in one more chance.  It arrived in injury time from a corner by Seedorf met by Thiago Silva whose bullet header flew past Valdes who had the whole goal to protect with no markers on the goalposts.  That to me smacks of complacency, the last minute at home and you don't defend as if it is your last, The header went to the far post the most obvious post to cover from this specific set-piece.

Luckily, Barca and AC Milan are in a weak group with Bate and Plzen (yep, me neither) providing little opposition to these superior powers. 

And that is the problem with the UCL, the group stage is deliberate in keeping all the super-powers apart until the knockout stages in February begin allowing them all a thick slice of television money.  Unfortunately, certain big times may not actually start playing their strongest sides until they meet a team they believe to be their equal.

Barcelona v Real Madrid - The Never-Ending Rivalry

After last season's incredible string of four El Clasico games in 16 days, Real Madrid and Barcelona returned to warfare in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup last night at the Santiago Bernabeu in the traditional two-legged tie between the La Liga Champions and Copa del Rey winners.

In what should be a pre-season warm up and run out for players returning from international duty, the game last night took on a session of bragging rights and holding ground before the season starts properly. 

What transpired was a game befitting the term El Clasico, the greatest pre-season friendly ever seen, a match played at such a pace, with such cut and thrust, it left that which the Premier League could offer over its first weekend proper trailing in its wake. 

The sheer physicality deployed by Real Madrid was brutal, and typical of Jose Mourinho's side.  The midfield cannot match the gracefulness of Xavi and Iniesta, so instead intend to disrupt their flow by fouling and leaving a mark in the tackle, as Barca attempt to ghost away from challenges.  Pepe and Xabi Alonso were generals of this army, with new baby-faced assassin Callejon joining the fray with a half hour remaining targeting Xavi especially.

Madrid started off much the livelier and gaining the lead after a dozen minutes when Benzema laid on a square pass to Mezut Ozil to convert pass Victor Valdes who was the busier of the two goalkeepers.  And yet it was his opposite number, Iker Casillas who had to pick the ball out of the net twice.  Firstly, due to a wonderful curler by David Villa and then by another slalom run by Messi who capitalised on some tentative defending by Madrid and then outmuscled any tacklers to give Barca a narrow (yet undeserving) half-time lead.

In the second half, the physicality to disrupt the Barcelona tempo was more apparent and eventually it came to fruition when after a scramble at a corner, Alonso placed a shot in the corner past a flat-footed Valdes, although the lack of attempted block and defenders turning their back will leave much for Guardiola to ponder - even though they hold the upper hand before the 2nd leg on Wednesday night at the Nou Camp.

When Madrid looked lively, I wondered if that was what we were going to see.  A hungry and tenacious Madrid side who want to usurp Barcelona from the throne of Spain and Europe, a squad fully fit with new faces, whilst in Catalunya a team who may have reached their zenith and pinnacle.  Messi and Alves looked tired after their Copa America exertions, yet Alexis Sanchez looked a great buy - a strong, versatile frontman who made good runs and defending from the front.

However, once the game got longer the thirst of competition and the rivalry came to the surface, Barcelona did not want to give their long-term rivals an inch of victory over them or anything to shout about.  The Madrid onslaught in the last ten minutes could not muster a winner, and yet this pulsating tie has a second chapter in two days time.  If it is anything like this game, it may leave you breathless but expectant for the forthcoming Spanish domestic campaign.

Lance and Ryan - Two Peas in a Pod

In spite of it being the last day of the Premier League season, with five teams at risk of joining West Ham United in the Championship and all the clamour and passion that familiar last day frenzy throws our way.  In spite of it being the European Rugby Cup final in Cardiff, which served up the equivalent of the Liverpool comeback with Leinster proving triumphant against a shellshocked Northampton.  In spite of the best European golfers dualling in Southern Spain for the World Matchplay title - it was two non-competing sportsman who took centre stage.

Both Lance Armstrong and Ryan Giggs have had their names dragged through the mud in recent days.  Armstrong (the 7 time Tour de France winner and spokesman for anything is possible after his winning battle against testicular cancer), was called out by former teammate Tyler Hamilton on the prestigious US show '60 Minutes' stating that both he and Armstrong injected themselves with EPO.  Hamilton has since returned a medal he won at the 2004 Olympics as a rite of passage and redemption. Whilst Armstrong remains silent on the matter except for a tweet on Thursday night after the broadcast which read, "20+year career. 500 drug controls, in and out of competition, worldwide. Never a failed test, I rest my case."


Well it does not really rest there unfortunately for Lance.  Having formally retired now from his illustrious cycling career, the feats remain in doubt in fact they have done since he returned from surgery to win the Tour; you came back from chemotherapy and won, and better than you did when properly healthy.  Now in the development of human beings, even that is miraculous.  Armstrong has these feats at stake, as well as his role as spokesman and ambassador for many charities and organisations, nevermind the endorsements he is still paid for the use of his image.  Now not only is the national exposure of Hamilton's testimony, but also Hincapie and Floyd Landis (another cheat) also state that Armstrong cheated knowingly.

As for another cheat in Europe, for the past few weeks, there has been a big campaign by freedom-of-speech lobbyists stating that the constant use of super-injunctions used by celebrities to sustain their wall of privacy.  The biggest one doing the rounds and offering lots of opinion in papers and call-in shows, is the one concerning a high profile footballer with a clean cut image had an affair with an ex-Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.  The crux comes because Ms.Thomas has been vilified for wanting to gain income off of her stories, whilst the footballer is allowed anonymity.

Until today, when MP John Hemming used parliamentary privilege to name the footballer as none other than Ryan Giggs of Manchester United.  Giggs the 12 time Premier League winner, one of the most decorated footballers of his generation, and recipient of both the PFA Footballer of the Year and BBC Sports Personality of the Year in the last two years.  Giggs is less than a week away from the Champions League final at Wembley against Barcelona.  The clamour from the press - front and back page- will be immense to get quotes from him, and I am sure his manager Sir Alex Ferguson will not welcome the unwanted distratction to his preparations.

The problem I have with things and the irony of the situation is that you have two esteemed sportsman both nearly the same age who have peaked on the highest stage and have spent the majority of their careers in the limelight of adulation and the fine line between sportsman and celebrity.

Armstrong feels he does not have a case to answer owing to his record in drug tests, and yet he responds to accusations via the slightly anonymous method of his twitter account.  Giggs on the other hand has had his legs swept out from under him, even though the Herald on Sunday in Scotland, did produce a picture of him with his eyes blanked out to keep the guessing game going - the irony being that jokes and rumours have circulated the internet for a number of weeks implementing Giggs as the man who slept with Imogen Thomas (herself a lady of Wales - hence the affinity between the two). 

My problem with both though is that Armstong and Giggs through their established personas as role models and model professionals have let themselves down further, by not coming out to face the music.  America has had this soap opera before in it's national pasttime of baseball during the steroid era as Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa all kept quiet as the whispers grew louder - now players are freely admitting hoping that time heals better than wounds. 

Armstrong is an institution and his record is unbelievable but all the more reason to fit for it surely, by coming out in a press conference and stating categorically that he did not do it.  When the whispers first started, I felt that if it were true and lets face it, it is slowly becoming that way, that it would be the end of cycling - the greatest example of the sport would be a fraud, and leaving proper figures like Mark Cavendish with no reason.  Armstrong may not only ruin his own vaunted reputation, but also that of cycling itself.  People will switch off and turn away from the sport.

As for Giggs, for so long a quiet man is it any wonder he kept quiet for so long or wanted to keep his privacy to himself - but he would not have been the first married footballer with children to play away from home and he certainly will not be the last.

My problem is that with footballers we know what they get paid for approximately three to five hours work a week, and in this business much like heads of large corporations they should act accordingly and appropriately.  Football clubs are multi-million pound businesses and should expect their employees to toe the line in regards to conduct.  The players seek privacy yet if they were grieving over the sudden death of a family member, or had been diagnosed with a serious illness they would announce a press conference and state that they would like their privacy to be respected; so what is the difference here, come out and admit it, ask for privacy then.  We football fans are not stupid yet we do not want to be treated like cretins when it comes to matters of what we should and should not believe, especially when it is the average football fan that pays the wages of said footballers.

The old adage of straight from the horse's mouth has never seemed more appropriate, and yet we seem to have found not one but two mute stallions.

What did Mourinho expect?

Jose Mourinho, has a problem. He has a problem with many things. He has a problem with referees. He has a problem with being second fiddle to Barcelona. He has a problem being second to Pep Guardiola.  He has no such problem with languages; fluent in five languages means he knows how to get his point across.

His moaning before the first leg about psyching out Barcelona and the need of physicality to disrupt their passing flow anticpated an all out attack from Madrid.  However, Mourinho did an about face and went all defensive employing a three man midfield to sit back and soak up pressure, also asking the front three of Ronaldo, Ozil and Di Maria to defend also, and instead of dictating the forward momentum, ask them to work only on the counter attack.

Ronaldo voiced his displeasure, Ozil came off at half time and Di Maria was ineffective; curious that considering they scored 6 goals at Valencia four days before, Benzema was only on the bench.

Coupled with the negative formation and tactics, Mourinho was asking for trouble when he brought up referring standards across Europe and his history of having a man sent off in four consecutive matches against the Catalan giants.  Pepe's reckless tackle led to him becoming the fifth. 

The suggestion before the game was that a Portugese official would have been appointed, now I do not know why UEFA would even let that story leak because appointed a countryman of Mourinho's would never occur to suffer the wrath of a biased view.  So the German, Wolfgang Stark was appropriate, though I did find it funny having a German going in to try and administer calm between two warring nations.  But both sets of players attempts to influence, Madrid upon Daniel Alves and Barcelona upon Pepe meant that the chance of impartiality was a long way away and put a bad taste in the mouth.

So what do UEFA do in appointing for the second leg but Franck de Bleeckere of Belgium; highly respected but the man who sent off Thiago Motta for Inter Milan at the Nou Camp at this stage last year, ultimately Motta's dismissal did not affect the result as Inter won the Champions Leauge.  Will lightning strike twice? Probably not as Barcelona hold a two nil advantage, whilst Madrid have Pepe and Sergio Ramos suspended.

But after his dismissal from the bench last week and being expelled from the touchline for the second leg, Mourinho has lost his power to influence but the appointment of the Belgian is a deliberate slap across the face from the European governing body.  I always think when you have two teams from the same country, maybe the solution should be a referee from that nation who has done these games before.  But Mourinho should not have expected any favours, Tuesday night should be a procession for Barcelona as they head to Wembley's final on 28th May.

Real Madrid v Barcelona UCL Semi-Final 1st Leg Preview

As the world waits with baited breathe for the El Clasico Champions League double-header, the focus on the clash of two goal-scoring machines and the midfield battle between Xavi and Xabi, may take focus away from the real battle and where this game may be won - defence.

Real Madrid have seemingly found a rich vein of form lately, and in the two recent El Clasico match ups have conceded only one goal to Barcelona and that was a penalty, a significant improvement from the famous 5-0 mauling at the Nou Camp in November when the single best team performance left egg on the Mourinho face.

Since then, though the defence has improved and the solidity of Iker Casillas and the growing responsibility of Carvalho has led to more clean sheets, along with the versatility of Pepe either next to Carvalho or as the marshall in midfield to disrupt the fluency of Xavi and Iniesta as some enforcer.  Some critics likened Madrid's tactics last week in the Copa del Rey final as that of Holland versus Spain in the World Cup final, and only one player getting sent off issued another type of referreing leniency.  The referee for tonight's game will certainly have his work cut out in the Santiago Bernebeau.  Unfortunately, due to suspension Carvalho is unavailable for the 1st leg, so the idea of defensive stability maybe exploited by Messi and the out of form, David Villa

As for Barcelona, the return of Carlos Puyol and Gabriel Milito to defence will ease some headaches after the loss of Maxwell.  And with Daniel Alves forsaking his defensive responsibilites down the right flank, Pep Guardiola may well play three centre backs in Puyol, Milito and Gerard Pique three giants to disrupt Ronaldo, Benzema and Ozil. 

Yet Real Madrid are the team with momentum; they won 6-3 at Valencia on Saturday with goals coming from Benzema, Higuain (back from injury) and Kaka (back in favour). 

And following the injury to Andres Iniesta, meaning he misses the first leg, Barcelona may well travel to Madrid with the plan of possible damage limitation and attempt to score a goal on the counter attack and get a vital away goal.  Whilst, Jose Mourinho may well know that tonight is the night to put the knife into Barcelona and go for the jugular much like his Inter Milan side did in last year's semi-final first leg where a 3-1 advantage was too much to overturn - Madrid have the attacking thrust to exploit.

Without Iniesta, the advert for football is diminished and perhaps this might be the game of four El Clasico's in quick succession that may well fail to live up to expectations.  However, it sure does whet the appetite and the anticipation for kick off at 7.45pm tonight on ITV1, cannot come soon enough.

I dare not predict the score, but if Howard Webb is referee. I predict a riot.