No matter where you happened to be over the final week of the football season, it was hard to escape people talking about destiny.

If a week can be a long time in politics, in football it can feel like an entire lifetime.

Ever since an April night in 1966 when Tommy Docherty was accused of flooding the Stamford Bridge pitch to get a semi-final postponed, Barcelona-Chelsea has for some reason been a fixture with an edge to it.

Champions League semi-finals have been decided by phantom goals, crazed officials, injuries, moments of brilliance and even by one team being better than the other.

Thinking the unthinkable does not come easily to managers, least of all José Mourinho.

Tonight’s clash of the heavyweights at Camp Nou is set up to be a classic.

Conspiracy theorists suspect the Champions League draw is arranged in consultation with UEFA’s marketing department.

“It’s like a final,” said Juan Mata yesterday of Chelsea’s match against Napoli.

Thursday night football may be second-best but there is a lot to anticipate from the tie between Manchester United and Athletic Bilbao.

“I stopped watching the Arsenal game when it was 2-2,” France coach Laurent Blanc confessed on Sunday evening, proving yet again that managers can be worse than fans when it comes to judging how a game is going.