Going Through Without Ever Going For It

The Gunners were hardly gung-ho 24 hours previously, but Spurs’ showing last night reeked of restraint - Crouch up top, Defoe benched and Sandro man of the match (at least according to Andy Townsend) summing up their evening’s efforts.

The Nou Camp is undoubtedly a mitigating factor when deciding which Londoners’ game plan was more merited. Many an attacking outfit has fallen by the wayside in Catalonia, defeated as much by their nearly 6-figure attendance as the 11 patrolling the pitch, to which Vialli's Chelsea of Zola, Flo, Di Matteo et al, who preferred Deschamps and Morris to Poyet and Petrescu that night in 2000, would undoubtedly attest.

However, both English sides’ lack of fearlessness this week when faced with a midfield of Kevin-Prince Boateng, Mathieu Flamini and a Clarence Seedorf approaching his 36th year, and a centre-half pairing of Eric Abidal and Sergio Busquets, respectively, was definitely disappointing.

One went through, one went out. But which went home with the football community fully behind them? It is arguable that fans, globally, will be more sympathetic to Tuesday’s officiating travesty than wooed by Wednesday’s exercise in efficiency. After the mauling of the last Milanese side to come to the capital, Tottenham have seemingly ‘come of age’ in this competition prematurely, to the eye of the untainted neutral.

Chelsea face FC Copenhagen next week, 2 to the good after a hugely satisfying first leg in Denmark. 2 strikers, 2 goals and, frankly, too much was gleaned for Jesper Gronkjaer and his team to overcome, barring the most metaphysical of miracles being heaven-sent to Stamford Bridge.

But how will Ancelotti and the shot-callers react to the margin for error they have earned? Will they use this as an opportunity to maintain momentum or even accelerate not only their assault on the crown but also their season? Or will they instead reel out Jon Obi Mikel, Yury Zhirkov and Paulo Ferreira from the start and accept the occasion as a chance for the superheroes to delegate to the sidekicks?

After almost full rounds of meaningless fixtures at the group stage, it would be refreshing, if not totally reassuring, to see a team of players, managers, officials and administrative figures display a degree of respect to the fans of fluency, who attempt to fly in the face of modern football and watch the ball, rather than the scoreboard or the sponsorship hoardings.