The ghost of Olivares

Let's be honest- watching Mourinho and Real Madrid thumping Spurs last night would have been an unsettling feeling for most cules.  Not only has the wishful thinking that Barca might face Redknapp's boys in the semi-finals evaporated (what a pity for us Londoners) , but its biggest rival looks like a tight army unit that has identified the main target and will relentlessly pursue it. Mourinho has clearly given up on winning La Liga and is hoping to pull off something of a record by taking yet another club to Champion's League victory.

I fear that Barca this morning will be suffering to fight off what I call the Olivares syndrome. For much of their history Catalans have been suffering the consequences of the arrogance and brutish determination from Madrid once exemplified by the Count Duke and what my grandfather the doctor and historian Gregorio Marañon called La Pasion de Mandar (the passion to order and trample on people). Barca seem to suffer from potential feelings of inferiority whenever Madrid are on the roll.

It's going to take all of Pep Guardiola's genius as a tactician and motivator to bring the best out of his team tonight if Barca is to win as convincingly as Madrid did against Spurs. He must know that he has a much tougher fight on his hands against Shakhtar