A friendly too many?

This Wednesday's friendly away at the European champions, saviours of total football, and those who made mugs of some team from over the road last May, is one that is somehow simultaneously exciting and almost pointless.

On one hand, the chance to play the best footballing side in the world shouldn't be passed up. It raises our profile another notch and builds relations between the two clubs further. On the other, we need to get our priorities straight. The timing, prestigious as the game is, is mental, and shipping the squad to Spain to play a game which is, by all intents and purposes, completely unnecessary, really needs to be questioned.

Had the fixture been scheduled a couple of weeks earlier it would have made some sense, and could have proved the ultimate game of our pre-season preparations. As is it, it may well prove a hindrance. I expect we'd have given some promise of fielding a strong side. Although a friendly there is always the potential for injuries, but fatigue, even this early in the season is perhaps more of a concern. Three games in a week, plus the travelling, though a doddle by the standards of your average full-time worker, will undoubtedly have an effect on the players.

It will no doubt prove a decent spectacle, but the important thing must be three points against Wolves on Saturday. As pleasant as us teaching Barca a lesson infront of their own fans will prove delightful, we can't afford to take our eyes of the ultimate goal, a credible Premier League finish. Putting in a good showing on Wednesday, and then following it up with a defeat at home on the weekend, would, dare i say it, be 'typical City'.