All smiles as Henry tipped to fire Barca to glory

Poor old Real Sporting de Gijon. With a new season comes new hope, but the Rojiblancos could be forgiven for resigning themselves to their first defeat of the season before a ball has even been kicked.

Their opponents for round one of the new La Liga campaign: Barcelona – the team that humbled the Northern Spanish side 6-1 in front of 25,000 fans at the El Molinon last September and then scored a further three past them in the return fixture in February.

This time around, Gijon travel to Camp Nou with damage limitation probably high on the agenda. The trio that last year fired more league goals than any other in Spanish history are now without Samuel Eto'o – whose defection to Inter Milan has been offset by Zlatan Ibrahimovic moving in the opposite direction – but Lionel Messi has been in his usual frightening form in preseason, while Thierry Henry enjoyed something of a renaissance in his second season at the club.

The 31-year-old had to recover from a stuttering start to his Barcelona career before eventually enjoying a prolific 2008-09 in Catalonia. However, a former Arsenal team-mate is not surprised by Henry's turnaround in fortunes.

"Thierry has always been world-class," says Ray Parlour, who sat down with Emirates Business recently. "He proved that at Arsenal and is proving it at Barcelona now. I'm sure he will go down as one of the best players to have played in the Premier League, without a doubt."

Henry has the record to back Parlour's claims. Having exploded onto the scene by helping Monaco win Le Championaat in 1996, he joined Arsenal in the summer of 1999 via an unsettling six-month spell at Juventus and went on to wrack up 226 goals in 380 appearances – unmatched by any Gunner in the club's 123-year history.

The nephew of a French 400-metre champion, Henry appeared built to fly the flanks, but it wasn't until he landed in North London that he found his true calling. Despite his obvious quality, the 22-year-old, much like his first few months at Barcelona, struggled to adapt to life at Highbury, failing to score in his first eight games.

However, Parlour can still remember the moment the striker started to fulfil his promise – a talent that resulted in Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger labelling Henry a Gunners "legend".

"When he first came in he was a little bit shy," says Parlour. "It took him 12 or 13 games to get fully used to London life, but once he scored his first goal at Southampton [on September 9, 1999] the floodgates opened and he was scoring two or three every week.

"Some players settle quicker than others and Thierry didn't at the start. He was OK, but not great. Yet that first goal lifted a lot of the pressure off him and after that he was the player we all thought he was going to be.

"He was absolutely different class; an amazing player, who was really strong with great technical ability. I played with him for many years and enjoyed every minute of it. Some of the goals he scored, and the goals he set up as well, were just fantastic."

Henry's growing influence was best illustrated in the 2002-03 season, when he supplemented 42 goals with 23 assists to be crowned Player of the Year by both his fellow professionals and the country's football writers.

By that time, he had already fired the club to a league and cup double a year earlier, scoring 32 times, before he recaptured the two Player-of-the-Year awards in 2004. Arsenal's 'Invincibles' had secured their 13th top-flight title without losing a match, with Henry the champions' spearhead.

When captain Patrick Vieira left the club in 2005, there was one outstanding candidate for the job. Henry was given the responsibility by Wenger and under his guidance a second generation of gifted stars emerged.

"He was very vocal," recalls Parlour, who helped Henry master English when he first joined Arsenal. "He knew every game was a big game, especially when we were in the running for the league. He supported the youngsters and was a great guy to have in the dressing room. Thierry always wanted to win; he's a born winner and you need that if you're going to be successful."

Having enjoyed a fruitful eight years at Arsenal, Henry set off for a new challenge in Spain in June 2007. Carrying a persistent injury, the then 29-year-old was criticised for his input in his first season, as Barcelona conceded the La Liga title to Real Madrid for a second successive year. Henry had scored only nine league goals.

However, the France forward responded in spectacular fashion last season. Henry formed a potent three-way partnership with Eto'o and Messi as the trio scored a century of goals to shoot Barcelona to an unprecedented treble: the La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

Parlour insists he always expected his old friend would transform his Catalan career and believes the impressive pool of young, gifted players at Barcelona can only benefit from playing alongside France's record goal-scorer.

"It doesn't surprise me that Thierry's flourished because he will always find a place in the greatest sides," explains the 36-year-old, who played 466 games in 12 years at Arsenal. "Barcelona are one of the best teams in the world; you look at their frontline and it's unbelievable.

"They've also got the really technical, little players like [Andreas] Iniesta and Xavi behind them. But Thierry took a chance going there and was a revelation for them last year.

"And the younger players will learn a tremendous amount from him. For me, Messi is the best player in the world by a mile. He has such quick feet and can see a pass that most other people can't – that's the sign of a world-class player.

"And Bojan's come into the team as well and looks to be a very exciting player. So Thierry complements them, which is great," adds Parlour. "I bet it's an exciting time for him to be there too."

It is an exciting time for both Henry and the current Spanish champions as they embark on their title defence this week, although that feeling is probably not shared up north at Sporting Gijon. Perhaps 'trepidation' would describe the Spanish minnows' mood better.


Real Optimism At Bernabeu

Having splashed an estimated €255 million (Dh1.3bn) on seven new recruits, Real Madrid are expected to mount a serious challenge to Barcelona's domestic dominance this season.

Florentino Perez is back for his second term as club president and has quickly moved to establish another Galácticos era, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka involved in two of the most expensive transfers in football history at €94m and €65m respectively.

Add Karim Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Raul Albiol, Alvaro Arbeloa and Esteban Granero to the equation and Madrid now boast a team that anything less than first place will be deemed a disappointment.

Benzema, the €35m acquisition from Lyon, scored twice in a friendly against Rosenborg on Monday and will look to take that form into their opening match against Deportivo La Coruna at the Bernabeu tonight.

Ronaldo's display against the Norwegians was rather more mooted, but new boss Manuel Pellegrini expects his Portuguese winger to shine once the Spanish giants kick off their league campaign in earnest. Barcelona will hope Ronaldo takes time to settle.


La Liga Fixtures: Round One

TODAY

Real Madrid v Deportivo La Coruña (10pm)

TOMORROW

(All times 7pm unless stated)

Real Zaragoza v Tenerife (12am)

Mallorca v Xerez

Málaga v Atlético Madrid

Osasuna v Villarreal

Racing Santander v Getafe

Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol

Valencia v Sevilla (9pm)

Almeria v Valladolid (11pm)

TUESDAY

Barcelona v Sporting Gijon (12am)

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