With Guardiola out injured, Barcelona's whole system will be badly affected. He's the midfield organiser and playmaker, and everything passes thru him. His natural successor Xavi is also out at the Olympic games, so the manager Serra Ferrer has a couple of options open to him. The first of these options, and the one that Serra Ferrer appears to favour, is to play Gerard and Cocu together in front of a back three, bringing Dani on up front with Kluivert. The second option, which could certainly favour Leeds a lot more, is to play Ivan de la Penya in the Guardiola role. Assuming the first option, this is how Barcelona will probably line up on the 13^th.

Ferrer will play a 3-2-3-2 system, very attack biased, with the following team:

As I just stated, this formation is totally attack orientated and danger lurks throughout the side:

Kluivert is a World Class forward, no matter what you may have read lately, his unselfish running is second to none, and he makes space for players like Rivaldo and Dani to exploit. If he has a weakness it's that he does not score as many goals as he probably should.... let's hope that continues.

Dani knows where the goals are, and scores more goals then Kluivert, but the Dutchman doesn't care too much for the two striker role, doesn't suit his game, so the final impact may not be so good from a Barcelona point of view.

Rivaldo has been given total freedom this year and it's beginning to show in his play. He's a "happy bunny" and that's very dangerous for us. Apart from his pace and wicked shot, he has a brilliant feint from left to right. The good news for Leeds is that this feint always leaves him with the ball on his right foot, which he cannot use, so he has to repeat the gesture to get it back on his left peg. Also, he did disappear when the chips were down last year. If it happens again this year we'll be very happy Tykes.

No need to talk about Overmars. We all know how dangerous he is and can be in important games. His pace may cause us trouble...have to be very vigilant. He is carrying a problem with his always-troublesome knee. Hope he aggravates it this weekend.

Simao is being talked-up by the Club and the Press but, believe me, he's ordinary and I don't expect him to cause any of our fullbacks the slightest problem. He's probably on a par with Zenden, and that's not good, but very good for us.

Gerard, a revelation last year with Valencia (alongside Mendieta), is a very good signing and very attack minded. Arrives late, has a good shot, and is very good in the air. Good point for us is that he will miss Guardiola and does not defend or tackle that well.

Cocu is the "work-horse" of the team, gets thru tons of work without being noticed and always gets himself behind the ball, but is good in the air and will be dangerous at set pieces. In this game though, I'm not sure he will be allowed to go forward, because defensively this outfit is sorely lacking.

Reiziger is one of the most underrated footballers in Europe, in my opinion. He is a tremendous fullback, has pace, is a good tackler, and a great man-marker. He can also get forward but won't in this game, due to instructions from the bench.

Sergi Barjuan, on the other hand, also a personal opinion, is overrated. He was given a torrid time by the Bosnian winger, Balic, who could never get into the Madrid side. His defensive capabilities are very suspect, he loves to gallop up the wing, but can't cross (bit like Phil Neville), and gets caught out of position. Cocu will try to cover him, but can't be everywhere.

Frank de Boer was always a favourite of mine, but like some of England's ageing defenders, he has lost a lot of pace, and does not assume the responsibility for Barcelona that he does in the Dutch side. If Robbie Keane can cause him problems, wait until Alan Smith gets at him. He can be dangerous from their corners but his marking at set pieces is horrible.

Dutruel, the signing from Celta, is a good keeper I believe, but he's new, does not have the confidence of his defence yet, and will be as nervous as any of the Leeds youngsters, so expect him to make some early mistakes. He's also not brilliant with the ball at his feet.

All of that brief résumé will either have us all "cacking" our pants at the attacking potential, or rubbing our hands at the prospect of getting at their defence. I'm for the second option, but I don't want to seem too overconfident, so here are the negatives as far as we Whites are concerned.

• The Camp Nou is an imposing place to play in, particularly when full. The Chelsea players, including many seasoned internationals, played as if they were terrified, which I believe they were. So how are our young guns gonna handle it??. Oh to have a fit David Batty in the side for this game. Perhaps DOL should bring him along anyway. The alternative would be to have a fit Harry Kewell running at the heart of this defence; he could wreak havoc.
• Like all top teams, Barcelona will probably get the benefit of any "debatable" refereeing decisions.
• If they get an early goal, the groundswell could take em to a bigger score-line.
• The Barcelona bench will have some top class players sat on it, including:
• Ivan de la Penya, the player who would have exploded onto the World scene with Johann Cruyff, but was discarded by Bobby Robson and Van Gaal, oozes class, and is adored by the Catalan fans. However, he's had a couple of poor seasons, at Lazio and Marseilles, partly due to injuries, and if he plays, or comes on, in Guardiola's position he could be a disaster for Barcelona. Always believes he has to make the "killer" pass, never plays it simple, and has got no idea how to cover back, or win balls.
• Petit. Just hope he is on the bench!
• Abelardo, best central defender in Spain, but will be on the bench unless Serra Ferrer panics and plays four at the back. If he does that it could also be good news, cause he'd be forced to leave out Petit, and either Cocu or Gerard.
• Alfonso, also a top-flight player, one of Spain's best in EURO 2000. He's new, and won't start, but could make an appearance, and will be dangerous.
• Litmanen, still got a touch of class, but is nowhere near the player he was two years ago.

I hope we've all noticed that Abelardo is the only authentic defender amongst these players, so the message for Leeds is clear. We have to look to pressurise Barcelona from the front, and get at their defence. The danger is that we'll sit back and let em come at us, and this could be a disastrous tactic.

I am supremely confident that our regular back four can cope with Barcelona's attack, and that Dacourt and Bowyer can win quality ball in midfield. The question is whether DOL will revert to last year's tactics and play five in midfield with a lone striker. This may well work as long as the wide men get forward and put the fullbacks under pressure. If we can get Smith (or Bridges) on a one to one with De Boer, we can do some damage. It's also important that we put De La Penya under pressure, if he plays, cause he'll give us the ball, or free kicks for Hartey to exploit. It seems that Ian is not too far away from Beckham as far as executing direct free kicks is concerned, and that, as well as corners, could be the way to sneak a famous result.

Spanish teams in general, and Barcelona in particular, are not good at defending set pieces. Let's take advantage.

I hope that the information provided has helped to keep our collective moral very high, and that the fans that travel make as much noise as possible to let our boys know we are in the Stadium, another thing that let Chelsea down.

Now I know our confidence has been "dented" a bit by that City result on Wednesday, but Barcelona have yet to play a competitive match. They play at Malaga on Saturday, have lost their playmaker and have to change positions around, with only one game to get it right.

Let's just hope we get a few of the injured players back, and that the team puts on yet another historic European display away from home, just like several times last year. Remember that Roma's attacking machine was feared all over Europe and they failed to score against us in two games.

Let's do it again......WHITES forever...........Marchin' on together!