SOCCER: Rarely in sport can such beauty and ugliness be set to collide. Romance and resentment, lust and loathing will all merge as one tonight when the Champions League takes a deep gulp and prepares to take on football's most enduring rivalry.
Barcelona v Real Madrid
Live on TV3, kick-off 7.45
It has been 41 years since Barcelona and Real Madrid - two bastions of mutual antipathy - last locked horns in the European Cup. When they trade blows at the Nou Camp this evening, in a semi-final first leg simmering with countless sub-plots, the country will come to a virtual standstill.
There will be a television in every shop, bar and restaurant. Business leaders estimate the droves of people taking time off work could cost the nation hundreds of thousands of euros.
Fuelled by an unashamedly trouble-making press, the mud-slinging and ill-feeling has been building steadily over the last few weeks, culminating yesterday in some extraordinary tit-for-tat when Real, having called their pre-match news conference for 4 p.m., discovered Barca had subsequently announced theirs for 1.15 p.m.
Sending a message to UEFA that they "would not be second to Barcelona," the eight-times European Cup winners immediately rearranged theirs to take place simultaneously.
That it is St Jordi's Day, commemorating the patron saint of Catalonia, merely adds another devilish twist. Great swathes of the population here lived under Franco's murderous regime in the times when the Catalan language was suppressed and Barcelona became, in effect, an empire in opposition.
Vicente del Bosque, Real's coach, and Carles Rexach, his Barcelona counterpart, have been careful not to say anything to antagonise an already flammable situation. But this is clearly far more than just a football match.
As Rexach said: "For the people of Catalonia, what could be bigger? We could play Manchester United or Bayer Leverkusen in the final, but it would not be as important as this game."
It is a loathing that borders on hysteria, and the enormity of the occasion could bring out the worst in Barcelona's fanatical support. Among the objects hurled at Real players when they visited in the league last month was a bicycle chain and the head of a cockerel, a unique way of giving the opposition the bird.
When Luis Figo returned for the first time after his £37 million defection to Madrid, hundreds of fans decamped to the city's airport to afford him the most venomous welcome imaginable. When the player - once feted as Catalonia's favourite son - stepped onto the pitch, clad in enemy white, the cacophony created by 100,000 vengeful supporters created an experience he will never forget.
Every time he strayed towards the touchline a bombardment of stones, bottles, fruit and coins rained down. On one occasion, he went to take a corner and a mobile telephone flew past his ear.
When Figo was booked against Bayern Munich in Real's quarter-final second leg, ruling him out of another reunion with his old employers, there were accusations that it was a deliberate act of cowardice.
Real will also definitely be without Fernando Morientes, who has a thigh muscle injury. However, Zinedine Zidane does stand a good chance of playing. The Frenchman sat out Saturday's 4-1 win over Tenerife with a thigh problem, but has been included in the squad and will play if he comes through today's training session in good shape.
Barcelona, meanwhile, have significant injury problems, with Rivaldo likely to be the most notable absentee. Spanish international full back Carles Puyol has almost no chance of making it after being forced out of the Celta game with a thigh injury.
Barca have three more players on the treatment table. Patrick Kluivert, Philip Cocu and Francesco Coco were all unable to play in the 2-1 defeat away against Celta Vigo on Saturday, but are expected to return for the Real game. Midfielder Xavi, who has grown into the playmaker's role vacated by Pep Guardiola this season, misses the game through suspension.
St Jordi's Day is traditionally a time when the men of Barcelona give their loved ones red roses. Yet, for true romance in this enchanting old city, there will be only one place to be.
Guardian Service
PROBABLE TEAMS
BARCELONA: Bonano; Reiziger, F de Boer, Abelardo, Coco; Rochemback, Cocu, Enrique; Kluivert, Overmars, Saviola.
REAL MADRID: Cesar; Salgado, Hierro, Pavon, Carlos; Makelele, Helguera; Njitap, Zidane, Solari; Raul.
