Waiter!

Before the main event there was an hour to fill. The plane was to get a bite to eat then settle down and read the programme whilst taking in the atmosphere. We had made this plan in blissful ignorance of Wembley Stadium's utter incompetance at organising their facilities. Now let's start with a few facts:

• The event was on the first day of the school holidays
• The event was well publicised
• Spurs have a huge following (and probably consider Wembleyt to be their second home)
• Celtic have vast travelling support
• Barcelona are the reigning Champions of the Champions' League.
• There was a 60 minute gap between the games

Against this background Wembley Stadioum had only opened a few of their bars and restaurants and those that were open had not prepared sufficient food. People were getting fractious and Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen were lucky to get their "chicken" and chips before the kick-off. As we regained our seats with a couple of minutes to spare the Gorse Fox concluded that this was not haute cuisine. No doubt Posh Bloke would have had silver service in one of the boxes, but we had queued 55 minutes for some rubber disguised as chicken.

The game itself started slowly. Whilst Spurs huffed and puffed and made some probing attacks, Barcelona seemed to contraol the pace and the midfield. Having said that, they rarely looked dangerous, but did finally make a breakthrough with a scambled goal in the first half.

During the second half Spurs looked more purposeful and industrious. Their attacks always looked dangerous, whereas Gomes was rarely troubled by Barca. The game looked as if it was heading for a disappointing 1-0 to Barca when Harry Redknapp shuffled his deck, bringing on some substitues. Within a few moments it had paid dividends with an equaliser. This re-invigorated the team and they fought hard to clinch a winner but in the end were beaten by the clock.

Overall a satisfying display and an immensely enjoyable evening.