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Talk to Manchester United fans and a fair number are fearing the worst in Tuesday night's Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona.

Talk to Barca fans and they too are braced for bitter disappointment.

So who is right ahead of the crunch showdown at Old Trafford?

Well, concerns from both camps are justified.

United are stuttering after taking just one point out of six in the Premier League and proved a big disappointment to those punters who backed them in the Nou Camp with Barcelona apparently there for the taking.

That failure to score an away goal is a big worry and fitness doubts over Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic, who both sat out training on Monday morning, means they could be without two hugely important players.

Barca, meanwhile, haven't scored in their last three games and suffered a 2-0 reverse at Deportivo at the weekend.

However, it's the Catalans' lack of involvement in their own title race which could just prove significant here.

Time and time again we've seen that going for the double of domestic title and Champions League has scuppered the very top teams and Liverpool and AC Milan have shown the benefits of being able to concentrate on Europe when winning their own league was no longer on the agenda.

Barca are a team of big players who have understandably taken their eye off La Liga after Real Madrid pulled away.

But when the adrenalin returns in Europe, they are hugely dangerous.

Looking at their away results in the Champions League this season doesn't make pleasant viewing for United fans.

Barca won 1-0 away to Schalke in the previous round, 3-2 at Celtic (the first team to win there in Europe since they themselves defeated the Hoops in 2004) , 2-0 in Stuttgart and also drew 2-2 in Lyon and 0-0 at Ibrox.

That's five games, three clean sheets and not a single defeat.

There are other concerns for Sir Alex Ferguson.

Firstly, Barcelona have won five of their last eight ties on English soil, including a 1-0 win at Anfield in the second round last year.

And, secondly, the ref in charge of the game - German Herbert Fandel - isn't afraid to punish United players having sent off Roy Keane and Paul Scholes in previous European games.

Ferguson, as expected was less than pleased by his appointment for the game.

It's hard to argue with Fergie's achievements at United but despite that famous win in 1999 this competition has often tied him in knots.

Too often he's tried to second guess or adapt his line-ups to the opposition when surely United are at their best when 'going for it'.

You'd imagine his cautious side will come out again here, especially as an away goal for Barca could be so damaging, and that could play into the visitors' hands.

Despite their recent goal drought, Barca have the players to produce something special when it's needed most and we'll take them at 5/4 to qualify for the final.

If Thierry Henry gets the nod, the 7/2 about him scoring at any time is certainly of interest.

He found the net at Celtic on his last start on British soil and will be even more fired up to put one over his former foes.

Henry is desperate to prove his worth after a frustrating season and it would make plenty of sense for Frank Rijkaard to unleash him at Old Trafford.

In the belief that he will, we'll take the ex-Gunner to help fire Barca through.

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