BARCA AND POOL SET FOR CLOSE CALL
 
Rafa Benitez has a good record against Barcelona at the Nou Camp overall as a manager, and leads Liverpool into battle in the Catalan club's magnificent arena in the first leg of their last 16 Champions League clash tonight. And the Reds have not suffered defeat in three visits to Barca's back yard - two meetings ended 0-0 while Pool won the other 0-1 - so both the manager and his charges have cause for optimism ahead of this game.
 
This clash is all the more mouthwatering considering that Liverpool and Barcelona are the last two winners of this competition respectively. I am perplexed by the odds compilers' seemingly unanimous view that Barca should win cosily, however. Indeed, the Spaniards are as short as 1/2 in a place, odds which aren't proportionate with their superiority, even allowing for home advantage – and especially not given the mitigating circumstances.
 
For if there is a time to catch Barca wobbling, it is now. Widely regarded as the best side in Europe, Frank Rijkaard's men have become synonymous with attractive attacking football in recent seasons, and they are currently setting the pace in La Liga, which they won last year, in addition to this tournament. But, it has to be said, the quality of their football hasn't been up to their exalted standards of late.
 
With question marks being raised over Rijkaard's future at the helm, reports of tense relations between playmaker Ronaldinho and star striker Samuel Eto'o, and a weekend defeat against Valencia to boot, not everyone at the Nou Camp has their rose-tinted spectacles on at present. Barca's shock first home defeat of the season against Real Zaragoza in the quarter-final of the Copa del Rey on January 31 proved that winning at the Nou Camp is possible for visitors. A tough task, but not insurmountable.
 
In terms of altercations, Liverpool have had an internal one themselves recently, with perennial bad boy Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise ruffling each others feathers at their training camp. And a defeat at the hands of Newcastle in the Premiership in their most recent match is hardly an ideal preparation for a game of this magnitude. However, Pool appear to excel in this competition and it would be no surprise to see Benitez coax a bold display out of his men.
 
An interesting battle will take place at the centre of the park where two of Europe’s finest players, Ronaldinho and Steven Gerard, will lock horns. A key player for the visitors will be Xabi Alonso, who missed the Reds’ last game through suspension, but will be back in the line-up this evening and, when on song, there are few more technically gifted midfielders in the world today.
 
Given the attacking prowess of both sides – and Rafa has stated that he is not sending out a team to play for a draw – there is great goal potential. However, with the exception of the Real Madrid-Bayern Munich clash last night, the other three fixtures produced just two goals between them. This is indicative of the cat and mouse game that sides quite understandably adopt in the first leg of a last 16 tie in this competition – after all, it’s a place in the quarter-finals at stake!
 
Therefore, despite the fact that I could quite easily be spectacularly wrong, I am going to recommend a punt on 0-1 in the total goals market at a generous-looking 9/4 with Sporting Odds. A glance at the stats wouldn’t support this – indeed, Barca are generally good for at least two goals per game at the Nou Camp – but this match will tactical and I can envisage an encounter in which these sides will spend much of the 90 minutes closing each other down, both determined not to be on the back foot for the second leg in two weeks’ time.
 
Verdict - 2pts 0-1 in the total goals market @ 9/4 (Sporting Odds)