Adriano warns of El Molinón danger

The Brazilian has not forgotten FC Barcelona’s last two games in Gijón, which ended in a one-goal win for FCB and a draw. “We suffered there last year” he remembered.

Two years ago, only a Pedro goal split the sides in Gijón, and last season a late Villa snatched a draw when defeat was looming at El Molinón. These are two good warnings for Sunday’s return to Asturias. Adriano Correia remembered that “we suffered there last year and struggled to win two years ago. It is a key game, because it comes just before the international break”. 

Comfortable in any position 
Adriano is a versatile player and Josep Guardiola has used him in several different positions. This season, he started at left back to cover for several injuries in defence, and then played on the right of midfield at Mestalla. But “whether we play 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 it makes no difference to me, I can play further back or further forward. We saw that in Valencia”. 

5-0 win a confidence boost 
The win in Minsk was the first on the road this season, and Adriano feels “winning 5-0 gives us more confidence. We have had some tough away games and have only drawn until now. We created a lot of chances against Real Sociedad but didn’t get goals like we did on Wednesday.” He also added that the team cannot afford to let the intensity drop in any games no matter what the score. 

Praise for Messi and Puyol 
On his team mate Leo Messi, Adriano Correia agrees that he is the best player in the world. “It is a privilege to play alongside him. There is nobody quite like him today. He is above everyone else.” Adriano is convinced that he will beat Cesar’s record this season and become the highest goalscorer in FC Barcelona history, a feat he is now just 41 shy of achieving. 

Adriano ended his press conference with some words for Carles Puyol: “He is a captain who has a lot of force in this team. He motivates us and is a great team mate. He gives us life”.

Del Bosque calls on nine Barça players

The Spanish manager has announced his squad for the European Championship qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Scotland. There are nine Barça players in his team.

Nine FC Barcelona players have been called up for national team duty by Vicente del Bosque for next week’s games with the Czech Republic and Scotland, They are Valdés, Puyol, Piqué, Sergio, Xavi, Cesc, Thiago, Pedro and Villa. 

Iniesta and Montoya absent 
Unlike the last international period, Martín Montoya of Barça B and the injured Andrés Iniesta are not included, but the now fit Gerard Piqué and Carles Puyol both get recalls. Jordi Alba, a Valencia player that played for Barça at youth level, has also been named in the squad. 

Luis Milla has called on four Barça players for the Spain Under 21 fixture against Croatia, namely Bartra, Montoya, Planas and Sergi Roberto. 

Other than the Spanish internationals, Mascherano and Messi have also been called up by Argentina, and Abidal for France, although the injured Alexis will be unable to play for Chile.

Andrés Iniesta plays some part in training

The 17 fit players trained this morning at the Ciutat Esportiva. Andrés Iniesta, who is still recovering from injury, appeared on the field and joined his team mates for some of the session.

With the Champions League visit to Minsk now behind them, FC Barcelona have their minds firmly set on this weekend’s league trip to Sporting Gijón. At El Molinón on Sunday at 20.00, Guardiola’s side finishes its first marathon of the season before the international break. 

Iniesta on the pitch 
The 17 first team players were joined by reserve team youngster Isaac Cuenca. It was also the first time that a training session featured Andrés Iniesta since the midfielder picked up a hamstring injury against Milan. 

Carles Puyol trained in isolation after taking a knock to the ribs in the game with BATE Borisov. Meanwhile, Alexis has left the city and is now in Chile where he will continue to receive treatment. Afellay, who was also absent, will undergo surgery next Monday.

Seiko presents first team with watches

The Japanese company has presented the official FC Barcelona watch to the first team players and coaches. Seiko became the club’s official timekeeper in 2011.

From Friday, the players and coaches of the FC Barcelona first team are the proud owners of new Seiko watches. The Japanese company became the club’s official timekeeper this season and its representatives were at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper today to present the watches before the training session. 

The timepiece is called the Sportura FC Barcelona Chronograph, and has the FCB crest on the back. The event was attended by the vice president of the Seiko Watch Corporation, Mr. Takahashi, who handed the watches over to the four team captains and manager Pep Guardiola. Also present were Mr. Todaka and Mr. Wilson, executives of the Japanese company, who presented watches to the other players and coaches.

Alexis to continue recovery work in Chile

Alexis Sanchez will travel to Santiago de Chile in the next few days, where he will continue his recovery programme from the muscle injury he picked up earlier this month.

Barça’s Chilean striker suffered the injury on September 10th during the game against Real Sociedad and after an initial stage of recovery work at the Club, he will travel to Chile in the next few days to continue with his treatment . 

Alexis will be accompanied by one of the first team physios who will supervise his recovery work.

Afellay op set for Monday

Ibrahim Afellay will be operated on for his injured anterior left cruciate knee ligament by Dr. Cugat and Dr. Pruna next Monday October 3rd at 14.00.

A week ago today, the Dutch forward picked up his injury in training and next Monday he will be operated on by Doctors Cugat and Pruna, both of whom will speak to the press about the operation at 17.00 on the same day in the Ricahrad Maxenchs Press Room.

Record man Messi

Messi set another record in the game against BATE Borissov when he equalled Kubala’s record of 194 goals for the Club, to draw level with Barça’s second highest goal scorer of all time. That’s one more record for the Argentinean –who is still only 24

Few would have imagined in the 2003/04 season when Leo made his debut in a friendly against Porto, that he would go on to achieve so much over the next eight seasons. His two goals on Wednesday night, set the latest record putting him level with Barça’s great Hungarian star of the 1950s Ladislau Kubala, as the Club’s second highest scorer. 

This record is just the latest in a long line for the Argentinean, some of which we detail below: 

► Leading scorer in a single season: Last season, Messi chalked up 53 goals in official games- 31 in the league, 12 in the Champions League, 7 in the Spanish Cup and 3 in the Spanish Super Cup, making him, together with Cristiano Ronaldo, the player to have scored most goals in a single season. 

► Club’s leading scorer in the league: The season before, Messi scored a massive 34 goals in 35 league games, equalling Ronaldo’s Club record from the 1996/97 season. 

► Leading international goal scorer: With 42 goals in international competitions (39 in the Champions League, 1 in the European Super Cup and 2 in the World Club Cup), Messi has scored more than any other player in the Club’s history and is also the Club’s leading scorer in the Champions League. 

► Leading Scorer in the Champions League: Messi has been the highest scorer in the last three editions of the Champions League – something which only Müller and Papin had achieved previously. His 12 goals in the last campaign matched Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record set in the 2002/03 season. 

► Leading scorer in the Spanish Super Cup: At the very start of this season, Messi set a new record with his three goals in the Spanish Super Cup to become the competition’s leading scorer with a total of 8 goals. 

► In the 2009/10 season he became the only player to have ever been won the Fifa World Player of the Year Award, the Spanish League’s leading scorer award, The Golden Boot and the European Footballer of the Year Award in the same season. 

► Two European Player of the Year Awards: Messi became the youngest ever player to receive the Award in consecutive seasons, when he picked it up in 2010.

Pedro matches Kubala’s 14 European goals

It wasn’t just Leo Messi who was setting records in Wednesday’s game against BATE Borissov –Pedro also scored what is his 14th international goal to draw level with Kubala.

► On the day that Leo Messi equalled the overall goalscoring record of the great Ladislao Kubala, Pedro Rodríguez equalled his mark of 14 international goals. Pedro has scored 11 in the Champions League, 1 in the European Super Cup and 2 in the World Club Cup, whilst Kubala got 7 in the European Cup, 6 in the Fairs Cup and 1 in the Copa Latina. 

► This was Barça’s 23rd consecutive Champions League game - a new record for the competition. 

► Guardiola is the Barça manager who has been in charge for most Champions League games with the team. He has overseen 42 games -24 wins, 13 draws and 5 defeats, more than Frank Rijkaard (41), Louis Van Gaal (40) and Johan Cruyff (35). 

► Leo Messi has scored 14 goals in 10 official games so far this season. 

► Between Messi(11) and Villa (6) made 17 of Barça’s 23 attempts on goal - BATE had five attempts. 

► Dani Alves had most touches -144 – four more than Messi. 

► Barça enjoyed 79% of possession in the first half and 63% after the break. 

► Barça made 779 good passes against 244 by their opponents. 

► Barça had 11 corners, whilst BATE Borissov had just 1. 

► Mascherano was again the player who won most ball for Barça, winning back the ball on 9 occasions.

Guardiola, Barça manager with most Champions League games

Josep Guardiola set another personal record in Minsk this Wednesday, when he chalked up his 42nd Champions League game in charge of the team –the most of any Barça manager.

On August 13th 2008, Guardiola made his debut as manager in an official game, in the Champions League qualifier against Wisla. As a foretaste of things to come, Barça won 4-0 – the first win of what was to become a golden period for the Club under Guardiola’s stewardship. 

Difficult record to beat 
The game in Minsk on Wednesday was Guardiola’s 42nd Champions League game in charge and with it he overtook Frank Rijkaard (41 games), having already passed Louis van Gaal (40) and Johan Cruyff (35). Guardiola has set another record which will difficult to beat. 

Extraordinary stats 
Of those 42 games, Barça have won 24 (58%), drawn 13 (30%) and lost just 5 (12%) and on only one occasion have the team lost a game which was in any way decisive –the 3-1 loss in the San Siro to Inter Milan in the first leg of the 09-10 semi final. The other games the team have lost (against Shaktar and Rubin in the Camp Nou in group stages, in London against Arsenal and in Cracow against Wisla) were either of little significance or put right in the second leg. 

93 goals 
Barça have scored 93 goals under Guardiola in the Champions League –averaging nearly two a game- and conceded just 35 –less than a goal a game. Those stats have helped Guardiola’s teams to two Champions League finals –in 2008/09 and 2010/1, both of which ended in wins over Manchester United – and the semi final defeat to Inter, which will be remembered by many for the long coach journey the volcanic ash clouds over Europe forced the team to make to Italy for the first leg.

Always Group winners 
Guardiola’s teams have always finished top of their group in the UCL, heading Sporting Lisbon, Shakhtar and Basle in the first year, Inter, Rubin and Dynamo Kiev the following season and Panathinaikos, Rubin and Copenhagen last year. 

Nine knock out stage wins 
In the knock out stages, Guardiola has led the team through nine of the ten rounds they’ve been in: the qualifying games against Wisla and two-legged wins over Lyon, Bayern Munich and Chelsea in the 2008/09 season: Stuttgart and Arsenal the year after and Arsenal, Shaktar and Real Madrid last season.

Guardiola: "We’ve taken a good step forward"

The Manager, very pleased with the 5-0 win against BATE Borissov, emphasised that the team has taken a "good step" on their way in the Champions League, and with this win, Barça tops the group.

Next training session on Friday

The squad will spend the night in Minsk and won’t undertake the journey back to Barcelona until Thursday. It will be Friday when the team returns to training. The session is scheduled to start at 11.00 at the Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper, when the team will start preparing for Sunday's game away to Sporting Gijon.

Guardiola admitted that, although Barça had been very good in the last three Champions League seasons, away from home "we haven’t been very reliable", something that made him think that the match that his team played on Wednesday in Minsk was, basically, "an unknown". Therefore Guardiola gave "much weight" to the win at the Dynamo Stadium, a win he described as "vital" and that is a "good step" with regard to the team’s objectives. "Now, qualification for the last 16 will be decided against the Czechs" he said.

"It's never easy attacking against 10"

To achieve victory, Barça had to deal with the solid defence of BATE Borissov: "The truth is that they defended really deeply, and I didn’t expect that. Sometimes if you don’t score early on it makes you lose a little patience. But we were able to cope really well, and this gave us the time and space to develop our game". He added:"It’s never easy attacking against 10 defenders. All these teams are pretty similar. They set out to defend and hope you lose a little patience. It was very important to control the midfield players, and Kezman, and our players have done that very well". 
Talking about his footballers Guardiola expressed aloud his desire that "they don’t lose the competitive spirit they have shown this Wednesday, and that has characterised this team for so long….. this spirit I’ve been seeing for years. It’s imbedded. I’m very clear that they feel it. It doesn’t matter if we win or lose, but we always have to keep doing the same things".

"Nothing is easy"

Despite the emphatic 5-0 scoreline, Guardiola, who dedicated the win to the family of Chus Pereda, didn’t feel that the match had been so straightforward: "We had to work very hard. Things have a lot of value when you achieve them, and if we won 5-0 it’s because we had to do things better than BATE Borissov. But nothing is easy".

On the other hand, Guardiola was very happy for Messi, who equalled the 194 official goals of another FC Barcelona idol, Ladislao Kubala: "He’s equalled another Barça legend, who, by the way he played and was, changed this club. With Kubala’s football the Les Corts stadium became too small. The only way Messi won’t catch Cesar is if he leaves here, but we hope he continues for many years. If at 24 years old he’s done what he’s done, I can only congratulate him".

Valdés: "We got a really positive result"

The FC Barcelona goalkeeper highlighted the patience of the team in creating space against BATE’s solid defence, and the great work done in Minsk that helped take 3 important points in the Champions League.

Against BATE Borissov Valdes probably didn’t have too complicated a game, although he never lost concentration. The Barça keeper expressed his surprise at how the Belarusian team played "because they defended so deeply, with 10 men in the area, leaving one forward totally on his own". But Valdes believed that the team "had the patience to keep the ball and create the necessary space to break them down". 

After the draw at home to Milan in the first game of the Champions League this season, the Barça keeper sees the win in Minsk as "a very positive result for us". 

Messi, a record shared 

Valdes also had words for Leo Messi, who with two goals against BATE equalled Kubala as second top scorer in the history of FC Barcelona, with 194 goals. "So many records. Every game is a new one. With the quality he has, and what he’s already won, he’s entered into the history of the club". He added that "collectively we feel that any record or trophy is shared. We all recognise that". 

Villa 

"Messi is incredible. He keeps beating his own records. We are happy to help him do it". 

"We always try to keep possession. BATE defended really deeply, especially in the first half, and left us to carry the burden of the match". 

"We were very comfortable and the rain helped because it made the pitch quicker". 

"Champions League matches are tricky. It’s to our credit what we did today. We played a very good game". 

"I’m happy with the game from both an individual and collective standpoint". 

Xavi 

"They shut up shop and let us dominate. We played at ease because they didn’t even want to leave their area most of the time". 

"We had to open up the pitch as they had ten players defending deeply. We kept them on the back foot, although it's tough when they are so deep, but we did well". 

"What Messi does is fantastic, achieving these figures, and playing for the team. Having the best player in the world in our team is priceless".

A win for Milan

In the other game in Group H, AC Milan beat FC Viktoria 2-0. The scorers were Ibrahimovic, from a penalty that opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, and Cassano, in the 66th minute. After the second games of the group stage in the Champions League, Barça and Milan share the lead in their group with 4 points. Meanwhile, FC Viktoria and Bate Borissov have one point each.

Fc Bate - Fc Barcelona " 5-0 thrashing, and a record "

Barça destroyed BATE Borissov with goals from Messi (2), Pedro, Villa, and an own goal, and came away with their first win in this season’s Champions League. Messi has drawn level with Kubala as the second top scorer in the history of the Club.

Barça didn’t leave any room for surprise in Minsk, where BATE Borissov play their home games in the Champions League. The Belarusian Champion belied their fame as an offensive team, and handed the initiative to Barça from the start. Barça had a lot to play for following the draw against AC Milan at the Camp Nou, and decided the game with 3 goals before the break. In the second half, also totally controlled by Guardiola’s players, Messi equalled Kubala’s record, and Barça equalled their biggest away win in the Competition. It was the best possible tribute to the late 'Chus' Pereda. 

Attacking a defensive wall 
BATE showed a lot of respect, and even fear, to the Champions of Europe. They defended really deep, with 10 players practically in their own area, and Kezman as the lone attacker. So, with the exception of the odd counter-attack from the Belarusians, the game became a Barça monologue, similar to the scene when they faced Rubin Kazan. This time, however, Barça were much more vertical, and effective. 

3-0 at half-time 
Barça had total possession, and tried to pierce the defensive network with long range shots, like the ones from Thiago (min 7) and Messi (min 17). The Barça siege soon found it’s reward: in the 18th minute a cross from Alves was diverted into his own goal by Volodko, under pressure from Messi. Barça followed the same 'modus operandi' to make it 2-0, when Villa crossed the ball for Pedro, who anticipated keeper Gutor’s attempt to catch the ball, and put a glancing header into the net. 

Soon after, Gutor did well to save 2 shots from Villa, but messed up again for the 3rd goal, when he dropped a cross from Pedro, and an opportunistic Lionel Messi nipped in to make it 3-0 (min 38). 

Messi equals Kubala’s record 
After the break, BATE tried to push forward a bit more, while Barça stuck to their 4-3-3 formation, brought back for this game. Now there was even more space, and Messi took full advantage. A combination with Alves, and a superb strike into the top corner, enabled Leo to catch Kubala as the second top scorer in Barça history with 194 goals. With the match decided, Guardiola decided to give some rest to players like Abidal and Xavi. 

Destroying more records 
Under heavy rain, Barça retained their high percentage of possession, and intensity, to the end. Pressure by Villa on the Belarusian defense allowed him to recover a ball and beat the keeper to make it 5-0. An undisputed win and another milestone achieved: equalling Barça’s biggest win in the Champions League away from home.

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Leo Messi equals Ladislao Kubala as the second highest scorer ever

This Wednesday, in Minsk, Leo Messi equalled the record of one of the legends of FC Barcelona, Ladislao Kubala. Both have scored 194 goals in official matches.

No one can stop him. Messi is a machine for scoring goals, breaking records and providing happiness. On Wednesday, in Minsk, at 24 years old, he scored another couple of goals, the second one really impressive, and equalled the 194 goals of one of the greatest players in the history of the Club, Ladislao Kubala. The Argentinian is now second in the list headed by César, with 235 goals. 

0.69 goals per game 

It had to be a very special competition like the Champions League when Messi caught up with the Hungarian superstar. Messi has been the top scorer in the competition for the last three years, and has scored 39 of his 194 goals in European competition. The rest are distributed as follows: 127 in the League, 17 in the Cup, 8 in the Spanish Super Cup (in which he’s now the top scorer ever in the competition), 2 in the World Club Championship, and 1 in the European Super Cup. In total, 194 goals in 280 games, that’s 0.69 goals per game in 7 seasons and the start of this one. 

Ladislao Kubala’s goals, scored over his 11 seasons at Barça, were distributed like this: 131 in the league, 49 in the Cup, 7 in the European Cup, 6 in the Fairs Cup, and one in the Latin Cup. Messi, therefore, still has one last challenge with respect to the Hungarian: pass his number of goals in the League. 

Important events 

The following are some of the previous records beaten by Messi for FC Barcelona: 

16/01/2010: Goal number 100 in an official match. 

27/02/2010: Overtakes, with 71 goals, the number of goals by Ronaldinho in the League. 

01/05/2010: Reaches Kluivert as the tenth leading scorer in club history (122 goals). 

21/08/2010: reaches 130 goals, the same as Eto'o and Rivaldo. 

19/09/2010: Reaches fifth top scorer for Barça in the League, level with Kluivert (90 goals).

20/10/2010: Messi equals Rivaldo as top international scorer ever (31 goals). 

03/11/2010: Goal number 100 since Josep Guardiola took over as Barça Manager (100 goals in 117 games with Guardiola). 

13/11/2010: Scores his 30th two goal haul, and reaches fourth place in the list of top scorers for Barça in the League, with 98 goals, one more than Mariano Martín (97). 

20/11/2010: Goal 100 in the league. 

24/11/2010: Goal 150 in official matches. 

29/01/2011: Becomes the third top scorer for Barça in the League with 109 goals, overtaking Eto'o (108). 

28/05/2011: Scores his 53rd goal in a single season, a record in the Spanish League, shared with Cristiano Ronaldo. 

24/09/2011: Goal 150 with Josep Guardiola as manager, in 192 matches. 

28/09/2011: Reaches Ladislao Kubala, with 194 goals, as the second top scorer in the history of the Club.

Fc Bate - Fc Barcelona "Three points to avoid upsets"

Barça visit BATE Borissov in the second game of the Champions League (20.45, GolT and R@dio Barça) in search of a very important victory, following the draw against AC Milan. Alexis, Iniesta, and Afellay, are all out through injury.

The current Champion didn’t exactly get off to a good start in this year's Champions League. In the first match they were unlucky to draw with AC Milan at the Camp Nou (2-2). That's why the second game of the competition on Wednesday takes on great significance for the classification in the group (at present all four teams have one point). 

So, Barça are taking on BATE Borissov for the vital 3 points. The match will take place at the Dynamo Stadium in Minsk, where the Belarusians play their games in the top European competition. 

Barça’s different formations 
With institutional issues behind them, the ball will now do the talking. Barça go into the game with a lot of confidence after the recent 5-0 win over Athletico Madrid. In that match we saw Barça alternating their formation (3-4-3 and 4-3-3) which the European Champions are doing regularly this season. Thus, the line-up for this game is anybody’s guess. 

The only thing certain is the absence through injury of Alexis Sanchez, Andres Iniesta, and Ibrahim Afellay. 

Messi chasing Kubala’s goal record 
A certain starter fort Barça, Lionel Messi has his first opportunity of becoming the second top scorer in the history of the Club. With the brilliant hat-trick against Athletico Madrid he’s only two goals behind the number of goals scored by the legendary Ladislau Kubala (194). 

BATE, possible revelation 
The opposing team this evening, BATE Borissov, is a candidate to become the revelation of this year's Champions League. Their promising debut in the draw away at Viktoria Pilzen puts them in an excellent position to aspire to be the surprise team in the group.

BATE Borisov-Barça: Did you know...

The following are a few nuggets of trivia surrounding FC Barcelona’s first European away trip of the season.

► This is game 400 for FC Barcelona in UEFA competitions, and their very first in Belarus. 

► Barça won on their last two European road trips, 1-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk and 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu, in the quarter and semi finals of last year’s Champions League. 

► This is only the second time that BATE Borisov have appeared in the Champions League. In the 2008/09 edition they only managed to win one point from their three home fixtures. 

► But since then they have only lost only one of eleven European matches played at home. 

► BATE have played Liga clubs four times before but have lost every time (twice against Villarreal and twice against Real Madrid). 

► Mateja Kezman, who signed for BATE this summer and the injured Barça star Ibrahim Afellay played together at PSV in Holland in the 2003/04 season. 

► BATE manager Víktor Goncharenko was an international defender for Belarus until the age of 25, when a serious knee injury meant he was forced into early retirement. 

► No Champions League club managed to force as many corners as Barça on the first day of play, although Dynamo Zagreb did manage to match their tally of eleven. 

► The referee of tonight’s match will be Manuel Gräfe of Germany, who has never taken charge of either side before.

First contact with Dynamo Stadium

The 20 first team players that have travelled to Minsk have trained in the same Dynamo Stadium where they will play their second Champions League fixture on Wednesday night.

FC Barcelona are about to play in Belarus for the very first time in their history. To prepare, they trained today in the Dynamo Stadium, Minsk with all 20 of the players named by Josep Guardiola (which include 18 first team players and Dos Santos and Cuenca of Barça B). Two of these players will have to be struck off the list for the definitive squad that faces BATE. 

Nice temperatures 
The squad was greeted by pleasant temperatures of around 15ºC and began the session with usual pre-match warm-up drills. It was announced the players will wear their black change strip on Wednesday, and today’s session was observed by some special guests, including President Rosell and several members of the Board who have travelled to Minsk to enjoy the historic occasion of FCB’s first ever trip to this country. 

Afterwards, the Barça directors went off to join the BATE Borisov officials for a pre-match supper. 

Capacity for more than 40,000 spectators 
The venue for the game is the Dynamo Stadium, which is normally the home of Dynamo Minsk, and not the Horodskiy where BATE Borisov usually play because the latter fails to meet the minimum UEFA requirements. So, this is not strictly speaking a home fixture for BATE either, although they are used to playing European fixtures in this facility, which holds more than 40,000 spectators. 

Guardiola: “We have to realise what we’re playing for”

The manager has warned that BATE Borisov could be a difficult opponent, and that after the draw with Milan at the Camp Nou, “if we don’t win here we will have to wait till the last day to guarantee qualification”.

Josep Guardiola was speaking to the press ahead of the Champions League encounter on Wednesday night with BATE Borisov. He said he has much respect for the early rounds of Europe’s premier club competition, because “in this group they are making a lot of assumptions … but my experience reminds me of the shocks we’ve had at these stages … If we are shocked now, then we’ll have to suffer right through to the end”. 

Vital match 
The 2-2 draw with Milan at the Camp Nou has no doubt conditioned the urgency with which FC Barcelona are approaching the match. “If we don’t win here we will have to wait until the last game to see if we qualify. We have to realise what we are playing for tomorrow, because it will be a big step forward if we win.” 

Asked about BATE Borisov, Guardiola said he has much respect for the Belarusian side, and “it is not the first time they have played in the Champions League … They have experience of competitions like this. They are a team that is used to winning, they are well prepared, they have potential and last year caused some surprises. They are very strong physically, strong in the air and we will have to be orderly in attack, that’s always our objective … we have to know where our spaces are, to be patient, and to realise what we are playing for.” 

Working in freedom 
Asked to clarify his words after the Atlético Madrid match, where he said he was sorry that members of the previous Board of Directors are facing a legal issue with the club, Guardiola said that his concern is entirely focused on the “eight families that have been suffering a delicate situation because of 15 days that have nothing to do with them” in reference to the final days of the 2002/03 season. Guardiola said “I have always been able to work in total freedom with both Laporta’s Board and also Rosell’s”. 

Guardiola also said that he often speaks to Sandro Rosell, and that they did so for quite some time on Sunday. “I didn’t intend to upset anybody” he said in reference to what he said on Saturday, and on his relations with the current board, he said “I always felt supported at all times, and I still do now … Everything being done now and everything we did before is purely to make the club better and better. It may not seem so, but the two presidents are much more similar than people think. Sometimes I think that they are both the same side of the same coin.” 

Single direction 
The Barça manager thinks that what really matters is for “people who run the club at any time to do what they think the people who love this club want. Ever since I’ve been here I’ve sensed that they are working to make this work. We all want Barça to win, the presidents the players and the coaches. Ultimately the aim is for Barça supporters to enjoy the way their team plays.”

Barça arrive in Belarus

The first team has arrived in Belarus, where the play their second Champions League group match against BATE Borisov on Wednesday evening. The squad touched down at Minsk airport at 13.25 CET (one hour more in Belarus).

Josep Guardiola’s side are fully concentrated on their European fixture against BATE Borisov. After training at the Ciutat Esportiva on Monday, they set off bright and early for Minsk on Tuesday morning, where they will train in the evening. The flight left a little late, and arrived in a sunny Belarus at 13.25. 

The expedition 
As well as the 20 players that have been named in the side, the group was also joined by president Sandro Rosell, the secretary and spokesman for the Board Antoni Freixa, and directors Jordi Moix, Eduard Coll and Silvio Elías. The sports director for Professional Football, Andoni Zubizarreta, was also on the plane. 

The day started early for the group. They left the Camp Nou at 8.15 for a transfer to El Prat Airport. The flight was due to leave at 9.00 but there was something of a delay and they didn’t land in Belarus until 13.25, where they were taken from the airport to their hotel. 

Press conference and training 
At about 17.45 CET, Josep Guardiola and Javier Mascherano will be speaking to the press about Wednesday night’s encounter. Then at 18.30, the players will train at the Dynamo Stadium in Minsk, their final session before the game between FC Barcelona and BATE Borisov on Wednesday night.