Officially no-one is thinking that far ahead. For the players and managers everything is about this tie. From the dressing rooms of the Champions League four semi-finalists over the past fortnight we have heard nothing but talk of focusing on the job in hand, taking each game as it comes, making sure bridges are crossed one at a time.
An adherence to such clichés is the way of the professional footballer. They all exhibit a narrowness of focus born of a mix of modern sports psychology and ancient superstition. None of them would ever admit publicly to counting so much as a single unhatched chicken.
For the fans, however, it is very different. They all have one eye on the conclusion. And ever since the draw was made, fantasy line-ups for the final have been filling the thoughts of those who spend most of the working day posting comments on their fan forums.
It is not just supporters of the four clubs involved, either. Neutrals too have been day-dreaming about final permutations, wondering who they would like to see make it to Moscow, their choices motivated largely by which set of supporters they would prefer to end up disappointed.
Not that there is much debate about Wednesday night's encounter in Catalonia. Apart from Manchester United and Real Madrid supporters, it is safe to suggest everyone else would like Barcelona to progress.
This is not solely a reflection of traditional antipathy to United. In Britain, Barcelona are the fantasy football side of choice, a club owned by its supporters, a team stuffed with the game's foremost entertainers.
Barca remain an outfit dusted with glamour. Besides, apart from a few patriots deluding themselves that an all-English final will somehow compensate for no English involvement at Euro 2008, everyone would prefer to see something different.
United play Chelsea and Liverpool twice a year anyhow; there's a game between the reds and the blues sandwiched between the two semi-final legs. It would not exactly be a special one if the encounter were repeated in Russia a month later.
It is much harder, though, to detect a neutrals' favourite emerging from tonight's tie. Chelsea have won few friends beyond Stamford Bridge with their elephantine spending and cautious, pragmatic football. And Liverpool's recent boardroom soap opera has not endeared the club to the wider world.
Manchester United fans, on the other hand, have no such dilemma: tonight, for them, the choice is an easy one. It has to be Chelsea. They would back their team on current form to beat anyone.
But there is always, lurking in the back of even the most optimistic mind, the possibility of defeat. And the thought of losing to Liverpool in a Champions League final is too painful to contemplate.
Never mind the retreat from Moscow, just imagine the witty banners unfurled in the Kop for years to come. Not even Napoleon had to put up with that.
An adherence to such clichés is the way of the professional footballer. They all exhibit a narrowness of focus born of a mix of modern sports psychology and ancient superstition. None of them would ever admit publicly to counting so much as a single unhatched chicken.
For the fans, however, it is very different. They all have one eye on the conclusion. And ever since the draw was made, fantasy line-ups for the final have been filling the thoughts of those who spend most of the working day posting comments on their fan forums.
It is not just supporters of the four clubs involved, either. Neutrals too have been day-dreaming about final permutations, wondering who they would like to see make it to Moscow, their choices motivated largely by which set of supporters they would prefer to end up disappointed.
Not that there is much debate about Wednesday night's encounter in Catalonia. Apart from Manchester United and Real Madrid supporters, it is safe to suggest everyone else would like Barcelona to progress.
This is not solely a reflection of traditional antipathy to United. In Britain, Barcelona are the fantasy football side of choice, a club owned by its supporters, a team stuffed with the game's foremost entertainers.
Barca remain an outfit dusted with glamour. Besides, apart from a few patriots deluding themselves that an all-English final will somehow compensate for no English involvement at Euro 2008, everyone would prefer to see something different.
United play Chelsea and Liverpool twice a year anyhow; there's a game between the reds and the blues sandwiched between the two semi-final legs. It would not exactly be a special one if the encounter were repeated in Russia a month later.
It is much harder, though, to detect a neutrals' favourite emerging from tonight's tie. Chelsea have won few friends beyond Stamford Bridge with their elephantine spending and cautious, pragmatic football. And Liverpool's recent boardroom soap opera has not endeared the club to the wider world.
Manchester United fans, on the other hand, have no such dilemma: tonight, for them, the choice is an easy one. It has to be Chelsea. They would back their team on current form to beat anyone.
But there is always, lurking in the back of even the most optimistic mind, the possibility of defeat. And the thought of losing to Liverpool in a Champions League final is too painful to contemplate.
Never mind the retreat from Moscow, just imagine the witty banners unfurled in the Kop for years to come. Not even Napoleon had to put up with that.
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