THESE are the games that count.

These are the ones you lock yourself away for, so that nobody can disturb you. The Champions League returns this week and it feels like a completely different competition after the Christmas break. Yes, the group stages are good but it goes up several levels for drama and intensity when it becomes straight knockout. I played in some magnificent games earlier in my career. The semi-final for Liverpool against Chelsea in May 2007 was like nothing I’ve ever experienced — the pressure that comes with knowing you are one slip away from being eliminated is almost intolerable. You experience every emotion. We won that game on penalties and the roar that met the one Dirk Kuyt scored to put us through to the final was unreal. Equally, I will never forget scoring for Tottenham against AC Milan in the San Siro to put us through to the quarter-finals in 2011. My old clubs are in action for the Premier League’s five representatives this week — Tottenham at Juventus on Tuesday and Liverpool at Porto the following day — and many people believe this will be the year when England strikes back and gets its first Champions League winner since 2012. I’ll be watching with great interest, particularly Wednesday’s game between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, which would be worthy of the final. But my idea of the likeliest winners are Barcelona. Nobody seems to be talking about them and I cannot understand why. Underrate them at your peril.