CROUCH'S SCOUTING MISSION

Jimmy Rice 05 February 2007 Peter Crouch has visited the Nou Camp on a spy mission ahead of the Champions League second round.

And the striker reckons he learned a lot from watching Barcelona take on Getafe earlier this month. "The manager gave us a few days off, and yeah I went to Barcelona with the missus," admitted Crouch. "We did the tour of the stadium and it's an impressive place. It's massive, and you get the impression it could be intimidating on a European night if you let the occasion get on top of you. "I've never played there and I'd never been to the stadium or the city as a tourist either, so we decided with such a big game coming up over there we'd head out and get a feel for the stadium. "We went to their game with Getafe in midweek – it was a good chance to get a good look at them up close. You don't see movement off the ball when you watch them on the telly, so I learned a little bit about them."