Days of whine and roses

THE lights were low, those sultry keyboard chords from ‘Je T’Aime’ were swirling around and I’m sure I heard Barry White’s deep, throaty growl purring in the background, as Giles, Souness and Dunphy slipped into something comfortable and whispered sweet somethings about the art of seduction in the RTÉ studios on Tuesday night.

At issue was the imminent meeting of Barcelona and Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Nou Camp (or if you prefer the Camp Nou, so good, they named it twice, differently).

And, no prizes for guessing that it was the prospect of getting up close and personal with the Catalans, not the Londoners, which had these veterans coming on like love-struck teenagers.