From the makers of ASH CLOUD 2010: MILAN, Iceland Studios bring you a sequel nobody wanted

Everyone remembers the chaos the Eyjafjallajökull volcano produced last year. We got a cult hero in the form of a drunk Scottish man wearing a Hooters hoodie in Edinburgh Airport declaring his disappointment with Iceland and a bunch of news journalists failing in their attempts to sound cultural by pronouncing the name of the volcano. This year the Grimsvötn volcano has taken the baton from it's sister. It may be easier to pronounce but the problem is very much a situation of deja vu.

Here, airports came to standstill for the second time that year. In case you didn't know, all it takes for this country to shut down is the sight of a snowflake. So when the ash cloud started to move over the UK, all the airports went cancelling flights mad. This week, the airport system is expected to go on the blink again but the timing couldn't be any worse as the UEFA Champions League Final takes place at Wembley. It's not a problem for Manchester United, they'll utilise the public transport system and get the train as per usual but Barcelona have to avoid another road trip. Last year, Barcelona were forced to travel by coach for 11 hours to Milan for their semi-final second leg with Inter and then lost. Having driven from the North West of England to Spain's eastern side, I can confirm that it is more than 11 hours. It's about 2 days on the road. So, the choices are as follows Pep and friends:

* Get here today before Heathrow decides to shut down because the other airports have. Spend those training days off watching English daytime TV and wonder if we're all like the people on Jeremy Kyle and if we're all obsessed with renovation programmes and selling junk. In the evening you can always watch Eastenders or if you want to know more about your opponents' city and you've heard every story Pique has to offer, there is no better depiction of Manchester life than Coronation Street. I don't think you should watch The Only Way is Essex and if you arrive in the middle of the night tonight, you will have missed Geordie Shore by a few hours so every ash cloud...
* Hang about for a day, drive to France and get the train that goes from the South to the North of France then ferry it to Dover and drive for 2 hours to London.
* Fly to Paris and get the Eurostar (with all the posh business people and the posh school trip kids from schools that can afford to send them on the Eurostar) get to London in 2 and half hours, less than an hour of driving.
* Drive to Calais and get on the P&O because Seafrance is a bit below everyone to be honest. Only schools use Seafrance because it's cheaper than P&O. Oh yeah that's the other thing, this time of year...SCHOOL TRIPS TO FRANCE! So, if you choose this option, be careful not to lose Messi in the crowds of over excited kids. 

The choice is yours.

The ash cloud was the main topic Guardiola had to answer questions about in his press conference. There were more questions about how Iceland just became Barcelona's least favourite place than about the treat of...er sorry... the threat of Manchester United's midfield.


And finally, a couple of words from me about the Champions League final this weekend. Watching MU play Marseilles, in one of the most boring matches ever, I never thought they'd get this far in the CL. I remember someone here made a post where we had to share our expectations and realities for our teams. If memory serves me right, I said I expected Manchester United to make it through the group stages but no further than the last 16. That's how much expectation I had back then. Since then MUFC have proved every critic including me wrong and sealed their 19th league title but not without a myriad of obstacles which they overcame in their own heart attack inducing way. 

Moral of the season is : Take absolutely nothing for granted.