With the shock of Real Madrid going out of the Champions League in the first knockout round followed by the shock of Chelsea going the same way, I was going to write this post yesterday but thought I would hang fire until Barcelona had played their game last night just in case there was a further shock on the cards.

There was no such shock of course as Barcelona ran out comfortable 4-0 winners in their home leg against Stuttgart who had bravely held them to 1-1 at their own place.

What this means now is that Barca are clear favourites to retain their title with United fairly clear second favourites.

I expect prices to change a little bit tomorrow as the draw for the Quarter Final stage is made because as well as the Quarter Final opponents, it is possible to determine who a team is likely to meet in the Semi-Final should everything go to form.

It is worth noting however that the Quarter Final draw is an open draw and any two teams can be matched.

I think this represents as good an opportunity for us to regain the Champions League as we are likely to get and I hope we get Barca in the quarters.

If we are going to win the Champions League then we will probably have to beat them at some stage and if they are too good for us then I would rather find out now than in the Final again. Besides, I think that over two legs home and away, we would have the beating of Barca.

Chelsea leaving unexpectedly early is obviously a blow for them but what it does mean is that they can now give the Premier League their full focus whilst we are going to be juggling the two. Not something new for Sir Alex (and certainly not in the last couple of years) but it does give Chelsea an advantage in the Premier League.

So, for me, it’s Barca in the quarters. Let’s get it on! As good as they played in the Final last season, we just didn’t turn up. Fergie has said that he knows what went wrong and knows what to do to rectify it should we be given the chance against them again this season (it probably involves tying Messi’s bootlaces together).

If we go out then we can give getting that historic fourth Premier League title our full focus.

We can’t lose. Not really.