Chelsea's Euro stars fall short on home front

Between them this season Barcelona's strike force of Samuel Eto'o, Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi, have scored an astonishing 90 goals. To suppress them with their top defenders would have been quite an achievement. For Chelsea to have done so without Ashley Cole and Ricardo Carvalho, with two stand-ins, Alex and Branislav Ivanovic, and with Jose Bosingwa playing on the wrong flank, was almost miraculous.

Some commentators have criticised Guus Hiddink for not being adventurous enough. What are these people on? His job was to blot out Barca's creativity which he largely did with a five-man midfield. If that left Didier Drogba operating alone up front, with the others way behind him most of the time, so what. The interesting thing Chelsea knockers seem to have missed, is how near Drogba came to scoring, and when Malouda moved down the flank, how inert the Barca back four could sometimes be made to look. Promising, eh?

Last night's performance owed a lot to Malouda, Michael Ballack and Michael Essien; a huge amount to Terry and Alex, who were giants, even if in Alex's case occasionally a clumsy one; and everything to Petr Cech, who made all those who have been writing him off recently choke on their words.

After such a performance, Chelsea can look forward to the second leg a week today with some confidence, but it's far from over. Not only have Barca, until last night, scored in every home game, they have scored in their last 50 matches, home and away. To expect them not to score for a second time running is to be an optimist indeed. So Chelsea may have to score twice. An epic is in prospect. Bring it on.

If the final is another all-Premier League affair, we are entitled to demand that UEFA chief Michel Platini keeps a civil tongue in his head. Chelsea, having dispatched Liverpool and Barcelona, will be there on merit. And cheap jibes about expensive imported superstars are best avoided, when you think, not one of Barcelona's strike force is Spanish, and all were costly.

I shall turn up next Wednesday in a state of high excitement, but on Saturday with a heavy heart. A game against vastly improving Fulham should have been unmissable at the climax of the League season but Chelsea are out of it. The game is meaningless.

Pathetic recent displays against Tottenham and Everton ensured that. Maximum points there, and Chelsea would have been on United's shoulder, only one point adrift.

How could a team capable doing of what Chelsea did in the Nou Camp last night perform so badly against a couple of also-rans like Spurs and Everton? Answers please on a postcard.

The chances still must be a Chelsea season that began with such rich promise will close with at best only the FA Cup in the trophy room. But at least hopes of the Champions League weren't snuffed out last night, as most of us feared they might have been.

How Bahrain helped me to fall back in love with Formula One

They don't let me loose on the travel pages, but that won't stop me saying that F1 fans who fancy a bit of sun, a friendly welcome, and some great entertainment, could do worse next year than beat a path to the Bahrain Grand Prix as I did.

Being there also alters your perspective on a few things. The double diffuser row has been a PR disaster for the sport, but the change has undeniably improved the spectacle.  

In one practice session, the gap between all 20 was 1.5 seconds, i.e. less than it has taken you to read this sentence. Extraordinary.

Jarno Trulli's pole made him the third different driver in four races to occupy top spot, and as they lined up, the top five all came from different teams. 

Last year's Bahrain race was a procession, with only the BMW Saubers giving the Ferraris a race.  This one was unpredictable throughout.

All credit to Jenson Button for winning it, with a display that can't be credited merely to the technological advantages of his new Brawn.  He drove superbly.

Button will never be a favourite of mine — there's something too shallow and self regarding about him for that. But, as a driver, he's plainly got more to him than his previous form at the top level would indicate.

Bahrain also marked the return of Lewis Hamilton and McLaren to at least being in contention, while Kimi Raikkonen's sixth place suggests Ferrari are coming back too.

A well-placed friend suggests it will be business as usual next season. So my advice is, revel in open competition while you can.

Riley a danger

Howard Webb's penalty that never was at Old Trafford is a clear reminder of how shocking the standards of English refereeing can be, especially given Webb is ranked our finest.

The current referees' supremo Keith Hackett has done nothing to improve standards, so it's no bad thing he's going. 

But one of those reportedly in the frame to succeed him is Mike Riley, who sums up everything that's worst about English officials. 

Putting him in charge of the asylum' would be just plain daft. But that won't necessarily stop them doing it.

It took far too long to give amazing Ryan his award

Because he has only started 12 Premier League games this season, there are many people asking if Ryan Giggs deserves the player-of-the-year award.

Easy answer, yes. By being a model professional, a man who in his mid-thirties is in first-class shape, Giggs is an inspiration to us all, especially youngsters coming into the game. In short, Ryan redeems footballers. Rather than ask why he's got it this year, the real question is, what took them so long? Mind you, a lot of this stuff, voted on before March, is a bit silly. The only London player in the team of the year is Nicolas Anelka. Can't be right, can it?

Sin to hit Saints

Is carrying over Southampton's 10-point penalty to next season really fair? I don't think so. In a just world, they would have been allowed to start next term with a clean sheet.

The football authorities should not be too careless about the possibility of the club going under or being left too wounded to do more than limp along in the lower divisions in perpetuity.

Draw a line south of Birmingham and London and there are only two clubs capable of being in the Premier League, the Saints and Portsmouth.  The geographical spread of the game matters and risking losing one as an effective force by excessive punishment doesn't make sense.