We should have started Henry. The defense didn’t really have much to do, did they? We lose Marquez (no real loss, the way he played) for the Old Trafford leg, but Puyol is BACK, baby! I do give Marquez credit for trying to de-ankleate Man U defenders with that turd of a free kick he took.

Messi was mostly neutralized, and Eto’o didn’t give him anything to play with. Xavi was pretty much invisible, and Iniesta was spotty. So our attack, such as it was, was Messi banging his head against a brick wall.

Hey, how funny was the shot of Ferdinand and Xavi at the start? Looked like men against boys! But when the ball was dropped, you tell me who played like men?

Yaya was astounding. What control. The other mids didn’t have much to do because our man was doing it all, kicking ass, controlling the ball and taking names.

And as predicted, Abidal was key. His exceptional play was so important. Finally, he looked like the guy that we signed with such hope over the summer. Wow!

And please, please give it up for Deco. Told you he would kick out the jams. His one-touch work was the best on the pitch today. He was in good form. Hope he gets the start at Old Trafford, with my damn suggested lineup. You could see the Man U boys saying to themselves, “Uh, oh….not HIM” when Henry took the pitch. Trauma is hard to outlive.

I’m optimistic. We controlled that match. We should have taken more shots, hoping for a spill or something. I kept waiting for Yaya to spank one. This passing the ball into the net bollocks is starting to piss me off.

At least if you guys do score at OT you have a giant advantage.

Man U showed Barca more respect than we’ve had from … Levante! Our midfield wasn’t dominant so much as, um, unchallenged. Yaya Toure didn’t have much work to do.

But from what I could tell, Fergie didn’t seem perturbed, which suggests this was all part of his plan. What the hell kind of plan was that?

We shoulda scored, and I suspect we’ll regret not having done so.

Still, wqe’re alive for another European night. That’s something.