Thierry Henry hit a lull. For the first time this season – perhaps – this slender, sleek purr of a player lost his flow. He had been asked a simple question, to describe Arsenal’s season in three words, and he had responded with a striker’s instinct. Straight away he pounced: ”Dominating,” he said. ”Injury” followed immediately.

Barcelona’s players woke up to a downpour on Thursday, proving that the rain in Spain does not fall only on the plain. The night before, the European champions sent out a message that, despite taking qualification for the next phase to the wire, they are alive and well in the Champions League.

Scott Parker flew into Tyneside this week to complete his £6,5-million transfer from Chelsea to Newcastle United. Parker is interrupting his holiday in Portugal — he was in the same complex as Alan Shearer — to travel to Newcastle where he will sign a three- or four-year contract.

Lee Bowyer was this week summoned to appear in court following the Newcastle United midfielder’s on-pitch confrontation with his teammate, Kieron Dyer, during the Premiership game against Aston Villa at St James’s Park on April 2. No action will be taken against Dyer.

Patrick Vieira began FA Cup final week with a spiky reference to his opposite number at Manchester United, Roy Keane, and their confrontation in the tunnel at Highbury before the Premiership fixture on February 1. Keane made a cutting remark about Vieira’s attitude towards his birthplace, Senegal, at Highbury.

As foreign students made for the language schools of the west of Ireland city of Galway and tourists headed for the Aran Islands, a man called Nick Leeson completed his first week’s work for a decade. It is the same Nick Leeson who was, briefly, the most wanted man on the planet. Leeson is now the commercial director of Galway United.

Marseille likes to bill itself ”a shock as much as a city”, but it was the predictability of Newcastle United’s defeat in the Stade Velodrome in the Uefa Cup semifinal second leg on May 6 — and the shocking reaction it provoked from fans — that ultimately resulted in Sir Bobby Robson reaching a dead end on Tyneside on Monday morning.

Newcastle United have agreed terms with Manchester United for the transfer of the midfielder Nicky Butt to St James’ Park. A fee of about £4-million is believed to have been agreed and Butt will end his long association with Old Trafford in the next fortnight.

Luis Figo bounced back from a poor performance in the quarterfinal to
lead his team to Sunday’s Euro 2004 final. But, if there is a flaw in this Portugal team, and there is more than one, it is that they still do not possess a striker who scores freely.

Ten minutes after the final whistle, with Chelsea’s fans chirruping “Champions League, you’re having a laugh” to a near-empty stadium, the cheery fellow who mans the Highbury Tannoy announced that “the games still come thick and fast”. Tannoy man was referring to the fact that Arsenal host Liverpool in the Premiership on Friday.