The football was beautiful. Every aspect of the Barcelona game is thought out and you can tell that all the players believe in each other and want to win.

David O'Leary would do well to get the tape if he didn't see it.

I don't think I saw one diving tackle in the whole 90 minutes from a Barcelona player and I don't think they gave the ball away unless it was in the last third of the pitch and they were playing to create a shooting opportunity.

How did they do it? Simple. They kept possession. No long balls and no hopeful passes. If they didn't see a pass they passed back and across the back line. They used the entire width of the pitch to create space and didn't think it necessary to always be running with the ball.

They made Panathinaikos come further and further up the field so when the space was created and they threaded the ball through or over it was a dream to watch.

Of course players make a difference and when you look through the Barcelona team it's difficult to find a player that wouldn't walk into most Premiership teams but it can also come down to belief, training, tactics, motivation. All these things David O'Leary just isn't doing or doesn't know how to.

I'm sorry to end this on a 'sack O'Leary' point but I sure hope that if we lose tomorrow he'll be gone - but I suspect he may get a result because it's considered one of the big matches and Villa always seem to do well in the big matches.

All I'd really like to see is a David O'Leary team try on a regular basis. I'd like to see the passion and fight.

I'd like to see them not waste balls. I'd like to see new things which are quite clearly from the training pitch coming through to match day - but we don't and I suspect, now that it's his third season, we won't.

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