Home advantage

By next Wednesday evening, uniquely, five British clubs could be in the last eight of the European Champions’ Cup. There is still, as they say, a lot of football to be played, but I suppose even the possibility remains testament to the strength at the top of the British club game. Mind you, only a small handful of native British footballers will be marking the occasion by actually participating. In these second-leg ties, important home advantage lies with four of the Brit five. On Tuesday, Liverpool await Barcelona at Anfield in the pick of the games; on the same night in London, Chelsea play Porto; on Wednesday, Arsenal and Manchester United are each at home, respectively to PSV Eindhoven and Lille, while Scottish champions Celtic travel to the daunting San Siro where, after a scoreless match in Glasgow, the strutters of Milan are presuming to put on a festive party.

A defeat by 1-0 in Holland has Arsenal’s continuing campaign also hanging by a delicate thread: how hot and cold they blow. Chelsea and Manchester United each returned with a precious away goal 10 days ago and both expect next week to build on that prized advantage. Liverpool, of course, brought back two priceless goals from Barcelona after a rare victory for any Nou Camp visitors; for all that they should beware, for I doubt the Cup holders will be so flighty or so fretfully insecure for two consecutive ties. Should Barcelona score early on Tuesday it could set up one of those ravishingly operatic European nights at Anfield in which calm control and defensive sobriety fly out of the window.

I am ancient enough to have been legging round Europe even before that first string of heady Liverpool runs three decades ago.