I'm backing Schalke to do well and get a good result at home, but I could see United grabbing an away goal or two and thus, doing enough to make the final. Fergie seemingly favours 4-5-1 for European games but I'd be very surprised if he reverts to it again, after having the 4-4-2 work so well against Chelsea.

Here's hoping that ITV have emergency medical staff on hand in case Clive Tyldsley has a coronary mid-match.

One of the Barca coaches apparently reporting that Iniesta was fatigued and not injured and will be able to start the game. Barca will need him today, that's for sure. Pretty sure it'll be Masch, Puyol, Pique and Alves playing in the backline. Ronaldo to start on the right to take advantage of Masch on the left of defense?

They'll be looking much better with Puyol and Iniesta out there, but this game just feels perfectly poised for Madrid. Home advantage, knackered Barca squad and confidence from the Copa Del Rey victory, not to mention key players in good form and others returning from injury.

One thing Barca should have in their favour is that the referee Stark is a card-happy fellow and a self-confessed Messi worshipper. So I strongly suspect that if a Madrid player does so much as breathe on little Leo, they'll be history faster than Darron Gibson's Twitter account.

Then again, Stark was the one in charge of the Inter v Chelsea game last season where Lucio and Samuel wrestled Terry and Drogba to the ground on corners without so much as a warning :|

Other updates today:

Iniesta officially out according to Pep.

Mourinho channels Einstein.

Pep admits "[Mourinho] is the f*****g man"

Looks like Barca is imploding and Madrid are definitely at the right place at the right time. History will only remember Madrid conquering Barca, nothing more

and one more thing: Booo Manyoo <_<

Clearly, Mourinho is on top form at the moment but as far as I'm concerned, Guardiola had a point over Pedro's disallowed goal. Granted, the replays showed that he was indeed offside but in actual fact, the decision was so tight that the official couldn't have based his call on anything other than guesswork, and the benefit of the doubt, we're always told, should go in favour of the attacker.

Surprised how ridiculously one-sided last night's game was. Giggs appears to be better now than he was 10 years ago - what's he going to be like at 48?

You're always told that but the call always seems to go to the defense I guess there's a difference between what the linesman saw and what he thought he saw. It's always difficult to see everything when the ball is released so far from the runner.

Earlier in the season, when Mourinho was threatening to leave Madrid, he was saying that whether he was going to be at Madrid next season or not was irrelevant because in the next couple of seasons Barca would fall regardless of his presence. He said that Xavi and Puyol would retire or become less effective with age and the end of the generation would spell the end of their dominance cause no matter how many youngsters Barca had, they would not have perfect clones to keep playing the way that they do. Interesting comments.

Did anyone see the interview? Pep was actually quite calm (which makes it all less funny).

A heartfelt congratulations to The Royal Blues for finally replicating their scintillating Bundesliga form in the Champions League. Nothing gets me more hot under the collar then when those wacky defenders go wandering forward like flabby kneed old drunks! Sie sind sehr attraktiv wenn sie nicht!

Did anyone see the interview? Pep was actually quite calm (which makes it all less funny).

I did read one report describing Guardiola's manner as 'controlled rage' but my eyes have yet to see it for themselves. Pep does look as if he's feeling the effects of a long hard season, though it's to his credit that he hasn't shown any signs of annoyance with Mourinho until now. He lasted longer than Jose's rivals usually do, anyway.

Deep down, I suspect Mourinho knows Madrid can ill afford to concede an away goal and therefore has started with the frustration tactics before the game even kicks off. Silly as it might sound, a 0-0 draw tonight would probably suit him better than a 2-1 win.

If anybody can pull this off is Mourinho, not a fan of him but we all know what he can do.

Arsenal, Schalke....sometimes it seems everybody makes it easy for ManUtd. From the first minute it was obvious Schalke were not able to defend, Fabio running at their defense, Rooney getting chances, Valencia crossing

Messi >>> shit football.

Thank goodness for little Leo. Without his cracking brace, there wouldn't have been any actual football played last night. Awful, awful game.

Porto - Villarreal could be a good match

Apparently it was. Villa Boas is the new Mourinho they say, but I haven't heard a peep about Barca conspiracies yet coming from Porto's direction

Thank goodness for little Leo. Without his cracking brace, there wouldn't have been any actual football played last night. Awful, awful game.

Apart from the fact that Pep has all but adopted Pedro, there cannot be any argument for him to start Pedrito ahead of Affelay. Not whilst Pedro is still so woefully out of form. The Dutchman did more in his short cameo than Pedro has done in the past three games.

Porto - Villarreal could be a good match

If there's an out-and-out striker in European football currently hotter than Falcao, I haven't seen him. Should they hang on to their better players and improve defensively next year, Porto could do some serious damage in the Champions League.

Congrats on winning the title, Freddy!

Pity about the Brom goal though. Scrappy stuff.

Congrats on winning the title, Freddy!

Pity about the Brom goal though. Scrappy stuff.

Well done Dortmund - first league title since 2002, I believe.

So the wave of renewed optimism after beating Wigan is now back down to a dribble following Saturday's game. Sorry Brucey but injury crisis or not, no Premier League side worth their salt should be shipping three at home to Fulham. Between the lack of a recognised striker in our ranks and the pathetic state of the back four, I'll be genuinely shocked if we manage another point in our remaining three games.

So the wave of renewed optimism after beating Wigan is now back down to a dribble following Saturday's game. Sorry Brucey but injury crisis or not, no Premier League side worth their salt should be shipping three at home to Fulham. Between the lack of a recognised striker in our ranks and the pathetic state of the back four, I'll be genuinely shocked if we manage another point in our remaining three games.

Congrats Dortmund