It wouldn’t be European football if there wasn’t an element of controversy about it. And the meeting between two of the game’s elite class – Barcelona and Liverpool – has certainly grabbed the headlines, for all the wrong reasons.

Last week saw the return of Barca’s Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o - well almost. His refusal to come on as a late substitute against Racing Santander in a La Liga game sparked a war of words with
coach Frank Rijkaard and Brazilian maestro Ronaldinho.

They have since made up, but Rijkaard dropped Eto’o for Sunday’s game at Valencia (which they lost 2-1) and, hopefully for Liverpool supporters, he won’t be playing against them at the Nou Camp either. He might have been expected to be in the team, giving him a chance to redeem himself in front of what will undoubtedly be the biggest crowd of the night. But it seems unlikely.

Moving on to Liverpool, manager Rafael Benitez’s plan to give his players a welcome break on the Algarve turned out to be a bit of a nightmare as some of the players became involved in a karaoke punch-up in a nightclub.

Craig Bellamy seems to have been the main antagonist in an incident in which he is alleged to have threatened and (say some reports) beaten teammate John Arne Riise around his legs with a golf club. Luckily Riise seems to have escaped with a few bruises, but Benitez has slapped an £80,000 fine on the Welshman.

Bellamy may not be much of a golfer but he does have a handicap – an inability to control himself or his emotions. He always looks like a ticking time bomb. Well, it's now quite evident how short his fuse really is.