BARCELONA start as favourites for their UEFA, Cup semi final, second leg, against Bayern Munich tonight, but could not have bad a worse run up to their home match.
In the last six days they have lost the Spanish Cup final to Atletico Madrid in extra time and seen a last minute defensive error rob them of victory in a Spanish league game with Racing Santander.
Barcelona, who held Bayern to a 2-2 draw in the first leg in Munich, will be without midfielders Oscar Garcia and Josep Guardiola while Romanian midfielder Gheorghe Hag and defender Miquel Angel Nadal are also doubtful because of injuries.
Nadal was cleared for selection only after UFFA reduced to a single game a three match ban for dangerous play imposed after he was, sent off in the quarter final against PSV Eindhoven.
Many feel that Dutch coach Johan Cruyff will not survive into a ninth season in charge at the Nou Camp if he fails to win either the UEFA Cup or the league, where Barcelona trail leaders Atletico by three points.
Bayern chairman Franz Beckenbauer says Barcelona's defeat in the Spanish Cup had given his team hope. "I watched the Spanish Cup final when Barcelona lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid and there I saw how this team can be beaten," he said.
Libero Lothar Matthaeus, pulled off against VfB Stuttgart with a muscle strain on Saturday when Bayern won 1-0 is an injury worry. Midfielder Thomas Strunz, still recovering from an operation on a groin strain, is not expected to play.
Bordeaux go into their semi final return with Slavia Prague just one step away from a final they never expected to reach when they began their long campaign in the InterToto Cup last June.
Leading 1-0 after the away leg, Bordeaux have everything on their side as they attempt to become only the second French team - after Bastia in 1978 - to reach a UEFA Cup final.
Slavia Prague, a team with strong counter attacking potential, sounded a warning that Bordeaux should guard against over confidence by beating Ceske Budejovice 3-0 at the weekend.
Trainer Gernot Rohr has told his team not to sit back and play for a draw. We have to make the play, hold the ball and create chances," he said. "It's no bad thing to remember that, when you have the ball, there are no risks."
Key men for Bordeaux are playmaker Zinedine Zidane and striker Christope Dugarry while Slavia will be looking to their forward Vladimir Smicer to get an early away goal which could turn the tie upside down.
Slavia, who look well on the way to taking the Czech title, have already shown French teams what they are made of, coming back from, a 0-0 home draw with Lens to win 1-0 away in the third round with an extra time goal from Karel Poborsky.
Should they pull off the exploit, they would become the first Czech club to reach a European final.
