Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, as a loyal Liverpool fan, I couldn't let the draw for Champions League (UEFA's glorified cash cow, but that's another blog topic) go without comment, and what a disastrous draw it was (from my perspective as a Kopite, at least); while Chelski, Arsenal and the MU Rowdies got relatively kind draws (against Porto, PSV and Lille respectively), my team got drawn against the reigning champions and Europe's best side, FC Barcelona (prompting the kind of personal reaction expressed in the title of this blog.) Perhaps the most worrying aspect of this draw is the way that sections of the media have been talking up the "Anfield factor" as our main strength in this tie, which is arguably true, but if that's the most that can be said about our chances of winning this tie, then we ought to be worried, particularly given that Samuel Eto'o might be back in action by the time the tie comes around, and that Ronaldinho seems to be rediscovering his best form.
On the subject of the rest of the draw, the grotesque levels of hyperbole surrounding the presence of 5 British teams in the last 16 (by certain sections of the media) seems to have disguised the fact that only one of those 5 clubs has any real chance of winning the CL (and that one is backed by Russian petrodollars.) Of the other teams left in the draw, Barcelona are obviously one of the main contenders, as are Inter (possibly the only other team in today's draw I would have dreaded facing), but I think that this year might be the year that Lyon finally win Big Cup; the draw's been quite kind to them (Roma's European record is atrocious) and only Chelsea & Barcelona have better squads (if Lyon could get their hands on a top class striker in January, then only a foolhardy person would bet against them.)