The great Johan Cruyff once famously said "It is better to fail with your own vision rather than follow another man's". I remember that France Football magazine went as far as translating it (in French) to something along the lines of "I would die with my own principles rather than live with someone else's". You grasp the sense ...

Such was the Dutch master's belief in this philosophy that it cost his Barcelona Dream Team of 1993-94 the Champions League, at the expense of Capello's AC Milan. Cruyff was sacked by the Catalan club two years later but his influence and his idea of the way football should be played are deeply and firmly rooted at Barcelona. Guardiola, who played under Cruyff and is believed to be his spiritual son, has implemented the Dutchman's very ideas with enormous success in his first season in charge of the first team. The way Barcelona demolished Real Madrid, in what was a must win game for Spain's holding champions, suggests goals will be scored at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. It is my belief that Barcleona will score at least one more than Chelsea but that is a side point.

Like all Gooners, my main hope is that the result of the other semi-final will keep me interested in watching Chelsea v Barcelona. Leaving aside the penalty shootout, the equation is pretty simple for Arsenal : win by two goals and the job is done. I just think that viewing it from this angle makes the task look less scary. Manchester United are not unbeatable and if Arsenal players and fans (those lucky enough to be at the game) turn it on, it could be a very uncomfortable evening for Ferguson's team.

I have the gut feeling that Arsenal can win the tie by sticking to the principals Arsène advocates for. The manager himself sounded very bullish before and after the first leg. He knows his main task will be to get from his players what they failed to deliver at Old Trafford. Tuesday night is the perfect scene for him to show everyone across Europe why he believes in this young side he has assembled. The time has come to take one more step in the quest of the Impossible Dream and I prefer it done audaciously (to paraphrase Arsène), even if there is a risk of failure. At least there will be no room for regret.

Manchester United are on a run of twenty four undefeated games in the Champions League. It is an awesome record. However I am sure it has not gone unnoticed to Arsène that the last team to beat them in this competition was AC Milan in May 2007. They won 3-0 in the second leg of their semi-final and went on to lift the trophy against a side they had lost it to on a previous occasion. Here’s hoping Arsenal follow the same path.