Fingers crossed in the Kingdom of Catalunya

Tuesday's Champions League clash between Manchester United and Barcelona looks like it has squeezed every last drop of effervescence and enthusiasm from the pom-pom waving, back-flipping Catalan sports press.

Nine months of continual "Come on!" "We can do it!" and "Run you lazy f*cks!" exhortations have taken their terrible toll on the editorial teams of the region's titanic two and left them on their hands and knees, begging for some kind of relief and respite.

Should Rijkaard's men be handed their marching orders at Old Trafford then the heads of the disheartened hacks could well melt like those of the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

"Impossible is Nothing!" yells Sport, 39% of whose readership - at around 10am - expect the Catalan club to go through on away goals.

If not, "Frank Rijkaard will be packing his suitcases," interjects Josep Maria Casanovas risking the wrath of Joan Laporta's death ray.

Mundo Deportivo is in a more positive mood and splashes "To Moscow!" across its front page.  Inside, the paper's managing director Santi Nolla shows why he is the one wearing the journalistic trousers in the MD universe by informing its readers that, "the big key for Barcelona is scoring."

Franky could be out on his ear by the end of Tuesday evening 

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