"Look, I'll tell you something . . . You can't just send some ordinary runner to race the 100 metres against Carl Lewis and then give out to the poor guy because Lewis is in front of him from start to finish . . . What I'm saying is that this Dutch-style Barcelona is phenomenal while Fiorentina is merely a normal side."
That typically forthright opinion was expressed last weekend by none other than FIFA number two, Frenchman Michel Platini. His comment had been provoked by questions about the effective worth of current Spanish champions Barcelona, who are at home to Premiership side Arsenal in yet another intriguing Champions League tie at the Nou Camp tomorrow night and who, of course, brought off arguably the outstanding performance of last week's round with a 4-2 drubbing of Italian side Fiorentina.
When Barcelona's Dutch coach Luis Van Gaal arrived in Catalonia two years ago he perplexed many by making it clear that he intended to import not just the ideas and gameplan with which he had proved so successful at Ajax Amsterdam (winning the 1995 Champions League) but also many of the same players. For instance, the side that defeated Fiorentina last week started with six Dutchmen, four of whom played in that 1995 Ajax team.
There was a time when this Dutch-dominated line-up, complemented by a spectacularly talented Brazilian in Rivaldo and a useful Portuguese striker in Figo, caused ontological misgivings amongst Barcelona fans. Barcelona is meant to be the "pride of Catalonia" yet under the current Dutch-multinational regime of Van Gaal, Catalan players are an endangered species at the Nou Camp.
If the Barcelona fans and media still have their misgivings, they seem to be keeping quiet about them.
With men like Luis Enrique, Cocu and Josep Guardiola stirring the midfield pot, with Patrick Kluivert and Figo buzzing up front and with the whole combination topped up by the effervescent creative talent of Rivaldo, the current Barcelona are certainly an impressive unit.
The intriguing aspect of tomorrow night's game is that Arsenal are unlikely to be quite so intimidated. English clubs may occasionally be technically outclassed or physically outrun by the best in Europe but a side as experienced as Arsenal is unlikely to be intimidated at the Nou Camp. It could be that Arsenal will represent much more formidable opposition than the currently unsure, less than 100 per cent fit Fiorentina. Certainly that is the opinion of Barcelona's Guardiola who commented this weekend: "Against Fiorentina we got the three points we wanted but that's all . . . Let's see what happens against Arsenal. They are playing better than Fiorentina and I am sure it will be a far more difficult game".
Arsenal may have been less than impressive in a late 1-0 home win against Watford on a weekend when Barcelona underlined their good form with a convincing 4-1 home win against Real Betis. Those results, however, need to be interpreted with a pinch of seasonal-relevance salt.
It could, however, transpire that Michel Platini is dead right and that Barcelona are indeed a Carl Lewis amongst plodders. Over to the Nou Camp.
