Barcelona – Basel preview: “We aren’t in the last 16 yet”

Josep Guardiola doesn’t want his side to be over-confident against Basle and says they could have a nasty surprise if they don’t concentrate and take the game seriously.

Josep Guardiola is not having his head turned by good form in the League and the Champions League. After training this Monday, he said the team needs to keep up its commitment if it wants to beat Basle and qualify for the knock-out stages of the Champions League. “We aren’t in the last 16 yet and we haven’t beaten Basel yet,” said the Barça manager. “If we think tomorrow’s game will be like the one a fortnight ago, we could be in for a nasty surprise, and we’ve got to remember who our opponents are and give them the respect they deserve. I don’t want to win five nil. All I want the players to do is to keep on as they have done so far.”

Guardiola is pleased that his side is top of the League, but once again pointed out that the competition has only just started. “We are top, one point ahead of Vila-real and two above Real Madrid, and I’m happy about that,” he said. “We must be doing something right to be on top, but there’s still a long way to go. I’m very pleased with the image the players are giving, as that’s the most important thing.”

Guardiola highlighted the fact that the entire squad and coaching staff are going to Navarra to attend the funeral of Juan Carlos Unzué’s father as a sign of the unity to be found in the dressing-room. “I’m happy with what the players have done here,” he said. “When the father of someone you work with so closely and for so long dies, it’s quite normal that people will want to go to the funeral. It’s nothing extraordinary and you’d find it in any workplace. The club’s provided us with a plane and we’re all going to Navarra.”

FC Barcelona Press

FC Basel – Barcelona FC: back at Saint Jakobs

Barça have trained at the place where they won their first ever Cup Winners Cup in 1979, and where on Wednesday they face FC Basel in the third game of their Champions League campaign.

Thirty years later, FC Barcelona are back where they won their first ever Cup Winners Cup. Things have changed, and the old Saint Jakob Stadium has now been replaced by the ultra-modern Saint Jakob Park, which holds 37,500 spectators. The pitch was in excellent conditions as the team trained in preparation for their key European encounter.

The session started at 19.30, and the light rain made the pitch much faster than usual. Only the first fifteen minutes were open to the media, during which time the 19 Barcelona players went through their usual warm up drills.

Next time Guardiola’s players set foot on the Saint Jakobs turf will be on Wednesday night for the game with Basel.

FC Barcelona Press

FC Basel - FC Shakhtar Donetsk: the occasion to win

Evaeyerson Brandao

The Donetsk team will start their UCL campaign with group stage match against the Swiss side FC Basel 1893. So, Shakhtar squad has departed at Switzerland earlier today.

Mircea Lucescu has taken 24 players: Goalkeepers: Andriy Pyatov, Rustam Khudzhamov, Bohdan Shust. Defenders: Tomas Hubschman, Razvan Rat, Oleksandr Kucher, Vyacheslav Shevchuk, Dmytro Chygrynskyy, Mykola Ishchenko, Artem Fedetskyy, Volodymyr Yezerskyy. Midfielders: Igor Duljaj, Fernandinho, Jadson, Ilsinho, Marius Lewandovski, Oleksiy Gai, Willian, Darijo Srna. Forwards: Yevhen Seleznov, Luis Adriano, Oleksandr Gladkyy, Brandao, Marcelo Moreno.