A Rivaldo hat-trick gave Barcelona a 3-2 win over Valencia and ensured Champions League qualification. Arsenal may well be concerned, as it has been rumoured that Sol Campbell will prefer to sign for Barcelona if the club was guaranteed to take part in the top European competition next season.

Campbell was in Spain as Barca's guest of honour yesterday, reports say.

Intriguingly, Martin Keown was there too. A guest of Marc/Manu, or Sol's minder? Well, we can hope. This game could, sadly, have been quite an effective advertisement. The prospect of playing alongside Rivaldo must be appealing. His hattrick was surely the best ever, pushing Bergkamp's at Leicester and Kanu's at Stamford Bridge down the list. The first was a lethal free-kick, the second a subtle dummy followed by a swerving blast from the edge of the area, the third an exquisite overhead rocket in injury time. Add to that the fact that Barca demonstrated their desperate need of a hero at the other end of the pitch, and Sol's head could have been turned. Who could blame him, really?

Arsenal fan Peter Wickett, who lives in Barcelona, was at the game, and sends the following...

"Barca started with a kind of 4-2-4/4-3-3. Overmars on the left, kluivert central, Zenden on the right and Rivaldo through the middle. Risky tactics - but they needed the win. They scored very early - less than five minutes - a swerving free kick from Rivaldo from just outside the free kick from outside the area - wonderful goal. Valencia went on to dominate. They could have had two or three, it was a bit like being at Highbury in recent months - loads of possession - but the goal just would not come. Thirty minutes gone, it finally came the Valencia equalizer - a headed goal from inside the area."

"Gloom, doom and depression all around me - some guy in the stand where I was seemed to have convinced himself that I was Dutch and kept telling me that I ought to tell this lot to bugger off back to Holland. Valencia crept into their defensive shell - all they needed was the draw. Two minutes before half time Rivaldo gets the ball just outside the area - but it all looks pretty safe - there were two defenders on him - he dummies a shot - this completely fools both defenders - this makes just a yard of space for him and suddenly the ball is in the back of the net. 2 - 1. Barca are in Europe."

"We went to get a coffee at half-time - very long queues - we get back and its 2 - 2. We heard that groan that goes up but didn't see the goal. And so it stays that way Valencia again spurning chances - Barca were just not there. The crowd were getting very restless. The white handkechiefs were beginning to come out - its the Spanish equivalent of one rousing chorus of "Georgie, get your cheque book out". I'm told the white handkechiefs is something to do with bullfighting. Barca use all their subs - even Manu (who never gets a game) came on - I wanted to give it the old "he's french, he's quick . . . " - but I don't think it would have gone down well with he bloke next to me (the one who thought I was Dutch - he kept referring to Manu as "La Rubia" which means blondie - but in the female form of the word - not a compliment). Two minutes to go - everythings lost - no champions league - very unhappy crowd!! ! The ball comes in to the Valencia penalty area, Rivaldo had his back to goal, in a single movement, almost poetry, he bicycle kicks the ball and the back of the net is bulging. 3 - 2. The stadium erupts."

This win may tempt Sol to move there, but it's unlikely to keep Manu Petit at Barca. Chelsea have confirmed their interest in "La Rubia".