After the Soviets had beaten the Americans in the race to send the first satellite into orbit, Bob Hope remarked that all this proved was that "their German scientists are better than our German scientists". Similarly, Arsenal will want to demonstrate at Wembley tonight that their Dutch players are better than Barcelona's Dutch players.
Of course it will not be quite so simple. Arsenal will be equally reliant on a Frenchman, Patrick Vieira, as well as their English goalkeeper and back four, while Barcelona will seek inspiration from a Brazilian, Rivaldo, and two Spaniards, Josep Guardiola and Luis Enrique.
Yet it will be a predominantly Dutch occasion. Arsenal have potential match-winners in Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars, while Louis van Gaal, a former Ajax coach, has eight Dutchmen in his Barcelona squad, five of whom are likely to play. One of the exceptions is Frank de Boer, still recovering from damaged knee ligaments.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, expects Patrick Kluivert to play up front, rather than Dani, in the Barcelona attack when the teams drew 1-1 at Nou Camp three weeks ago. In that game Arsenal recovered from being outplayed in the first half and shrugged off the loss of Gilles Grimandi to a red card to gain a valuable point.
Grimandi's wayward elbow has brought him a three-match ban. In his absence, and with Emmanuel Petit not match fit, Wenger will probably move Ray Parlour alongside Vieira and recall Fredrik Ljungberg on the right.
Logic suggests that Davor Suker, now scoring regularly, should keep his place although Wenger may prefer to start with Bergkamp and Nwankwo Kanu.
Arsenal's first task will be to stop Rivaldo gaining the sort of grip he held for 45 minutes at Nou Camp. "You cannot stop him completely," Wenger admitted. "You know he has some tricks and if you are aware of some of them he will be less dangerous. But he can score against any team in the world."
Wenger felt that in the earlier match his team had initially shown Barcelona too much respect. "We were a bit more audacious in the second half," he said. "We'll try to let them have the ball less. We will have to dictate the game. Barcelona can be even more dangerous because we will be pushing up.
"Home or away they play the same way. They get the ball and put pressure on you. We need to put more pressure on them from the front."
Arsenal will need to watch their tackling. Vieira, Suker and Martin Keown are each a yellow card away from missing Fiorentina's visit a week tomorrow and Wenger knows that two wins will guarantee a place in the second group phase.
Not that a draw will do Arsenal or Barcelona much harm, although Wenger is not thinking of the safer option. "If Barcelona create 10 chances and hit the bar five times then I will be happy with a draw," he said, "but I will start out wanting to win the game."
