Ronaldinho leads by example

The Brazilian combines the natural exuberance of a circus entertainer with the clinical finishing of a coldblooded assassin and his strike partnership with Samuel Eto'o, whose number of goals exceeds his impressive collection of vowels, is surely the most potent in Europe. If John Terry can keep these two quiet next week than he really will deserve to be crowned player of the year.

With Mourinho, who had a spell at the Nou Camp in a coaching role under Bobby Robson, returning next week and Real Madrid piling on the pressure at the top of La Liga, Barcelona's season is approaching its defining moments. But Ronaldinho was determined to enjoy this more relaxed occasion.

He said: "I'm full of joy because I've just played with some of the best players in the world to help a very noble cause. All the stars have come to my home stadium, which makes me really happy.

"As for Barcelona, we want to be champions of Spain and champions of Europe but I cannot say much about it at the moment. There are many games to go between now and the end of the season but we'll be up there with the best."

For the first half at least, Barcelona provided the game's two best players, with Ronaldinho's invention and his partner's pace carving Shevchenko's side apart; a brace from Eto'o and a cheeky finish from the Brazilian gave them a 3-1 interval lead. Steven Gerrard may have been wearing the blue shirt he is set to make his own at Chelsea next season, but he was so overrun in Shevchenko's midfield that it must have felt as if he was playing for Liverpool. Not that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, who managed Ronaldinho's team, was getting carried away.

He said: "There was a lot of talent on the pitch, a lot of goals and it's nice to see. All the players were thinking about the tsunami and really wanted to do something to help those affected by the disaster.

"It was very much a friendly game for the victims of the tsunami and you can't draw any conclusions from it."

While both teams made wholesale changes at half-time, Gerrard surprisingly stayed on the pitch in an attempt to maintain his fitness ahead of the Carling Cup Final with Chelsea at the end of the month.

He said: "I enjoyed playing with some world-class players and, hopefully-I'll do it again some time. I'm not playing again until 27 February and asked the managers if I could have some extra time on the pitch."

Gerrard's overtime paid dividends as Shevchenko's team levelled the scores with goals from Gianfranco Zola and his Cagliari team-mate David Suazo, but their opponents found an unlikely match-winner in Henri Camera.

The Senegal striker may have made a good start Southampton career but he didn't expect to score twice at the Nou Camp this season, as his wild celebrations demonstrated. Harry Redknapp can pick them after all.

South Korean forward Cha Doo-Ri, currently is on the books of Bayer Leverkusen, scored the final goal.

The only disappointing aspect of the evening was the crowd, with fewer than 30,000 rattling around Barcelona's drafty 98,000 bowl, and the thought persists that any of London's many stadiums could have provided a fuller, more invigorating atmosphere.

With the Olympic inspectors in town a trick has been missed.