In their place, Guti and Esteban Granero will make their start against Lyon in the second leg of their CL fixture.

Meanwhile a nervous expectation descends on the club.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain have been in cracking form and they go up against a superb Hugo Lloris. The Lyon custodian has gone 620 minutes without conceding a goal.

Champions League last 16 second leg
Venue: Old Trafford Date: Wednesday 10 March Kick-off: 1945 GMT

He wants them to lose.

If he does play it will be the first time in Old Trafford since he left seven years ago on the way to Real and now AC Milan. He is unlikely to start. But he can make an appearance, can't he? Even Leonardo is playing coy.

United have to fancy their chances to advance to the quarterfinals. Even a 1-0 win will not help Milan. Plus, Wayne Rooney is sure to make an appearance which could only mean more goals.

Arsenal for the first time overcame a first leg deficit in the CL. There were a couple of different looks how this was managed.

There was always someone to receive the outlet and a moment of genuine counterattacking skill where Arshavin finally managed to lay bare his speed for a rare breakaway.

Nicklas Bendtner was the beneficiary on both occasions as the ball sprang free in the box. The first time when Nasri's beautiful pass isolated Arshavin with the Porto defense reacting too late. As the protagonists collided, the ball rolled free to Bendtner who tapped the ball in.

The second time it was Arshavin at his most brilliant as he shimmied his way leaving a swarm of Porto defenders in his wake and laid a cross that Bendtner latched onto for his second goal. On both occasions Arsenal had a player in the box when it counted and Bendtner showed some well needed hustle.

Even better was how the fourth goal was set up with Arshavin busting loose and then passing onto a galloping Eboue who reminded me of Rooney in his counterattacking glory in his desire for the ball. Eboue slipped past Helton and finished off smartly. Bendtner completed his hat trick after Eboue was brought down in the box following some neat ball skills.

This was exactly what was missing from Arsenal's attack during those miserable losses against Chelsea and Man Utd. It was often Arshavin isolated far ahead with players who seemed to lack that extra step to receive the ball from him. That and the players needed for a breakaway.

The match provided some redemption for all concerned:

Samir Nasri: The French midfielder stepped out of Fabregas shadow stamping his creative imprint on the match. We can celebrate his magic carpet ride in the 63d minute as the peak but even before that he positioned himself emphatically as the fulcrum of the attack. His discipline on the line also saved a sure Porto goal. There was nothing soft about Nasri yesterday.

Nicklas Bendtner: He scored a hat trick silencing his critics for a while (yours truly included) but did you see how he won almost every ball down field, flicking it on or bringing it under control. Using his height to great use and a more deft first touch saw Bendtner retain more meaningful possession of the ball. He even threw in a curling effort that saw Helton scramble for a save.

Andriy Arshavin: By now we have to take the desultory with the brilliant. The second goal was all Arshavin and so was the point blank miss as Nasri cut the ball inside. But the Russian owned the piece of territory from the center to the left embankment. Fucile was futile. The body count was high as he stretched the Porto defense to breaking point.

Manuel Almunia: Short of self confidence, long on the stubble. Almunia has managed a sleep deprived look. But against Porto he looked sharp on the few occasions they looked dangerous. He was decisive punching the ball away, on corners, and he saved Falcao's down the pipe shot.

Emmanuel Eboue: Usually vertically challenged at his worst but this time he stayed upright enough to hopscotch around the Porto defense to administer the coup de grace after Nasri's sublime goal. And he did not have to play aggrieved victim as Fucile brought him down for Bendtner's penalty.

Gael Clichy: The left back literally lost his head challenging Hulk but was saved when the Brazilian went for self glory. Apart from that he looked solid fending away the hulking Brazilian whose finish was rusty. Clichy seems to have regained some of his speed and cross making abilities.

Bacary Sagna: A scary moment when the Frenchman lay hobbled with pain after a tough challenge but he shook it off and managed to neutralize Silvestre Varela and Ruben Micael quite effectively.

Sol Campbell: The big question was how Big Sol would manage Radamel Falcao, Porto's in form Colombian import. The question was quite easily. He was fouled more by Falcao than the other way around.

Thomas Vermaelen: A nice block by the Dutchman on Raul Meirelles and a typically feisty performance continues his excellent first season. Both Vermaelen and Campbell weathered a torrid 15 minutes of the second half after Cristian Rodriguez was introduced.

Abou Diaby and Alexander Song: The backfield was manged by some robust interventions between these two gentlemen. They pulled off quite a number on Meirelles and Ruben Micael, Porto's first leg heroes. Song playing clean up and Diaby playing a higher line acting as a conduit between the deeper reaches and the attacking line. He was unfortunate as Helton denied him a goal pulling off a spectacular save.

Theo Walcott and Denilson: The former launched a few ambitious attempts and the latter came on late for a quiet interlude.

In the end the win gave us another memorable moment when Wenger broke out in a delighted jig. Lord of the Dance, yeah!

Let us first remind ourselves at the outset that if it was not for Miroslav Klose's ridiculously offside goal in the first leg, Bayern would not have progressed to the quarterfinals.

This was a game played with great intensity with some brilliant moments. It will be one of the more well remembered matches and for Viola fans, it will be one of pride as well as heartbreak.

At the Stadio Artemio Franchi, it was Fiorentina that looked the more attractive attacking team. Juan Vargas gave them the lead with a tightly angled shot after Butt spilled Marco Marchionni's rasping shot straight to the Peruvian. It was 1-0 and things were looking good for the Violas on a 2-2 aggregate and an away goal advantage.

In the second half Gilardino's exquisitely timed back heel found Stefan Jovetic whose smart finish gave Fiorentina a 2-0 lead as the Viola fans erupted in raucous celebration. They could taste the quarterfinals. Surely nothing could take it away now.

But Franck Ribery on the left who had a swarm of Fiorentina players descend down on him every time he touched the ball managed to wriggle free and pass it square all the way to the middle of the pitch. It arrived at the feet of an arriving Mark Von Bommel who lashed a nicely placed grounder to the right of Sebastian Frey. Parity was restored.

It was Jovetic, a livewire in attack who again gave Fiorentina the aggregate advantage. After a Gilardino header found him, he took off for goal managing to shoulder aside the heavier Daniel Van Buyten and place the ball past Butt.

But even before the fans had time to catch a breath, Robben who so far had been contained with great difficulty broke free moving inside and whipped in a 30 yard screamer with his left foot that seems to have caught a thermal on its way to goal. It capped a frenetic exchange of goals as Fiorentina redoubled their efforts to find another goal to no avail.

In the end it is Bayern going through and Fiorentina left behind undone by a travesty.

Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli:

(Reflecting on Miroslav Klose's goal from the first leg) "We gave up a goal that shouldn't have counted for anything, and instead we're here talking about getting eliminated by a goal that was two metres offside."

Champions League last 16, second leg
Venue: The Emirates Date: Tuesday 9 March Kick-off: 1945 GMT

Fabregas aggravated the same hamstring that caused him to miss three weeks in January. The first time was in the Villa cameo on December 27th, a match in which he scored twice in a 3-0 rout.

During Cesc's absence Arsenal won against Portsmouth and drew Everton proving that Arsenal's attack was versatile and multi-pronged.

The Everton match was heading towards a loss when Tomas Rosicky scored an extra time goal.

Today, Rosicky, Nasri, and Arshavin should share the creative load.

Does Arsene go with a 4-2-3-1 with Abou Diaby and Alexander Song adding more protection at the back with Gallas gone? At some point Walcott's could be trotted out with his return to alacrity and goal scoring form. Wenger can also turn to Emmanuel Eboue to bring a zip down the right flank.

All we need is a win with one goal scored. Surely, even Nicklas Bendtner could manage that. Eboue could serve him on the plate.

Porto have never been successful on English soil and they suffered a 4-0 thumping last season at the Emirates. Lets hope their adverse record continues.

Go Gunners! Win one for Ramsey.

"Is that a drink ticket? I'll have two then"

Just when I thought that defenders were the new media generators what with their off field sexual peccadilloes, breaking legs, and getting injured all over the place. What happened to Joey Barton, Craig Bellamy, and Lee Bowyer? They seemed to have had off season pre-frontal lobotomies or are on downers or smoking sheeshas.

But Steven Gerrard gave us some hope. So on a day when Liverpool gets 5 yellow cards, Gerrard goes one better and makes what appears to be an offensive gesture to Andre Marriner, the referee. But it really was not so.

Liverpool came up with a strong statement that Gerrard was not really flipping the bird or trying to tear another orifice and it seems to have worked. The FA might be willing to overlook the matter since Marriner himself did not bring it up.

However, more disturbing is Gerrard's inability to manufacture goals. It has become a big factor in the regression model that might explain the reason for Liverpool's abysmal and chaotic season. Throw in and out Tom Hicks, Lucas Leiva, the blinkered use of Benayoun, the defensive let downs, and Rafa to explain the variance.

"Poor attitude, lack of character, limited intelligence" was how Rafa summed up the Reds effort against Wigan.

It all came undone with a Hugo Rodallega strike as the February push has turned into the Ides of March.

Rafa's statement maybe true but it does not hold for the one player who always gives them a chance- Yossi Benayoun.

On intelligence alone, the Israeli would find himself in the World's top XI. Yet, he is almost always rationed in Benitez's team selection, relegated to footnotes. It's too bad his team mates can't keep up. He was taken off with 20 minutes to go by Alberto Aquilani and the attack faded into a series of long balls.

In a midfield comprising Maxi Rodriguez, Lucas Leiva, Dirk Kuyt, and even Steven Gerrard - Benayoun comes across as a giant. Yet he logs almost 1000 minutes less playing time than Lucas who can be charitably described as barely adequate. Captain Fantastic is in the shadows of last year's prodigious contribution and when comparing goals to minutes played, Benayoun comes out streets ahead.

It is time to move to a club where Benayoun's midfield vision can be fully exploited. He is in his third year of a four year contract when he signed on for Liverpool in July 2007. Time to get the pen out.

The defender re-aggravates his calf injury which means he will not only be missing against Hull this weekend but could be out for up to a month. Earlier, he was ruled out of the Porto second leg today. In his place, Sol Campbell (whose return can be counted as a success story) will see more action with Thomas Vermaelen.

Wenger on Gallas:

"We were impatient with him and we pushed him and he wanted to get on as well, that is why maybe it has happened. But there is no obvious sign as to why it keeps coming back. He has no pain at all, then goes for a little jog and then it goes again."

This weekend Arsenal meets with Gallas to discuss his contract extension. It appears that the 12 month restriction for players over 30 might be lifted in his case.

Sepp Blatter and the FIFA Luddites have gotten their first serious challenge.

The FIGC chairman Giancarlo Abete came out against FIFA's decision to do away with goal line technology in the name of keeping it "human."

"That doesn't take away that experimenting can be possible. If we don't test, there is a mistake in the method."

The real agenda appears to be FIFA's controlling nature, to keep clubs and countries bickering with one another and slapping them with fines and suspensions. It's quite medieval.

The decision came on the day when the FA suspended goal line technology and the referees failed to spot Liam Ridgewell's clear goal. Talk about immediate proof.

More voices like Abete need to be heard. There has been a lot of teeth gnashing from pundits but the silence from national federations and leagues has been deafening.

Nigerian player Endurance Idahor of Sudanese club El Merriekh playing against Al Amal collapsed after a tackle from one of his club players left him on his back.

Attempts to revive him on the pitch failed and he was rushed to the hospital by ambulance but is said to have died on the way. He was just 25. Early reports indicate a possibility of a heart attack as two days before the match the player was complaining of chest pain.

Idahor played for Nigerian club Dolphins before El Merriekh signed him on and he left for the Sudanese league in 2006. He was loaned out to UAE outfit El Nasser for one season. After his return he became one of El Merriekh's leading goalscorers with 67 goals scored guiding them to their first CAF Confederation Cup final since 1989.

El Merriekh released a brief statement describing the player as "an example of a professional and committed individual and a symbol of loyalty" and added, "We will assure that justice takes place".

There could be a bit of a controversy as to where Idahor is buried. His widow appears open to the idea of him being buried in his adopted country.

When asked by journalists if she wouldn't mind burying her husband in his adopted country, she answered "I don't mind. Idahor loved Sudan and the Sudanese loved him," but added that she would like to consult the late player's family in Nigeria first before taking the final decision.

Another tragic death of a young player. One remembers Antonio Puerta, Dani Jarque, Mark Vivien Foe, Miklos Feher, Phil O'Donnell, and Antonio De Nigris in recent years. All from a undetected heart condition.