Claude Makelele's needless tackle on Ashley Cole in the last training session before the biggest game in the club's history may just have handed the initiative to Manchester United tonight.

It's impossible to overstate just how crucial Cole is to Chelsea in trying to snuff out the man who is arguably the world's best player.

Over the years for Arsenal, Chelsea and England, Cole has excelled in the head-to-head battles with Cristiano Ronaldo and he's one of the few defenders who enjoys playing against him.

Cole may have completed yesterday's training session, but the ankle could flare up overnight and no amount of intensive treatment can help him if he has badly tweaked the ligaments.

I would never advise taking a cortisone injection before a match, but for a game as big as this it's definitely an option.

If Cole is struggling, Avram Grant has possibly the biggest decision of his managerial career to make. If he risks Cole because of his past record against Ronaldo and it backfires horribly, then we could see the Portuguese running riot and possibly winning the Champions League for United. But we must not forget that there couldn't be a better replacement in Wayne Bridge, who rarely has a bad game. Grant must listen to the medical department and, of course to Cole himself, but ultimately the decision rests with him.

That someone as experienced as Makelele could make a tackle like that at such a crucial time is perplexing. It's not as if the performance of the players in yesterday's session would have made the difference between being picked or not.

I remember Roberto Di Matteo clattering into me in training the day before a League match and I ended up failing a fitness test before the game. I was annoyed but didn't show it when he apologised, as I knew that top players train with the intensity that they have for matches, even though I felt it was a tackle he didn't have to make.

The two teams are so finely balanced that no one can split them. Let's just hope Makelele's lunge on Cole doesn't end up being the difference between winning and losing on Chelsea's big day.