New Delhi: Pep Guardiola has maintained his professional stance and told reporters that Barcelona are concentrating on the visit of Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday before thinking about playing Real Madrid, but he is in the minority.
What: Champions League, Group C
Who: Barcelona (1st, 13pts) v Shakhtar Donetsk (3rd, 6pts)
When: 20:45 CET - Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Where: Camp Nou, Barcelona
While Bernd Schuster has already made a poor attempt at starting the mind games by talking about Los Merengues' chances in the game at the weekend, the Blaugrana boss has refused to be drawn, so far.
However,while the Barca boss may only want to talk about his team's sixth and last Champions League group game, his actions have already signalled what he really has his mind on.
Four youth teamers have been called into the squad for the Shakhtar game with Botía, Xavi Torres, Abraham and Víctor Vázquez all hoping to be given the chance to prove themselves on the European stage.
Being saved for Madrid are no lesser figures than Víctor Valdes, Lionel Messi, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Thierry Henry, Dani Alves, Yaya Toure and Rafael Márquez, who will all be in line to start at the weekend.
The reason for the hosts being able to play with their squad and raise no objections from either Shakhtar or either of the other two teams in the group is that all the positions have already been decided.
Barça's victory in their last outing against Sporting Clube in Lisbon ensured that they would finish first while the Ukrainian outfit booked third spot and a place in the UEFA Cup with a convincing win against Basel.
Points Tally
Shakhtar do have one reason for wanting to cause an upset however, as a victory would see them earn their highest points total in the group stage in their history.
Guardiola will also not want to taste defeat just four days before Madrid visit, or to end a run of 20 games without a loss that stretches back to the first game of the campaign in late August.
While the majority of first team players will be rested, those that do come in from the youth team or are given a chance from the shadows will know that they have to perform and maintain the club's current incredible form.
In a season that has already see Barcelona score 60 goals, the Catalan giants have netted 16 in their five Champions League group games and are just one short of the haul that their trophy-winning side of 2006 managed.
While the current coach will not allow any predictions to be made about how far his team can go this term, the belief around Camp Noun is very high, but that may not transmit on Tuesday.
While the club recorded their highest attendance of the season on Saturday against Valencia, a large of number of members will stay away in midweek and wait for the Saturday encounter to draw them back.
That may go against the hosts who are always praising the fans for their influence, so it will be interesting to see if Shakhtar can unsettle Barça in front of a half-empty stadium.
FORM GUIDE
Barcelona
06/12 H 4-0 Valencia
29/11 A 3-0 Sevilla
27/11 A 5-2 Sporting Clube
23/11 H 1-1 Getafe
16/11 A 2-0 Recreativo
12/11 H 1-0 Benidorm
Shakhtar Donetsk
30/11 H 1-0 Karpaty
26/11 H 5-0 Basel
21/11 H 2-0 Lviv
16/11 H 1-0 Dynamo Kyiv
08/11 A 2-0 Tavriya
04/11 A 0-1 Sporting Clube
TEAM NEWS
Barcelona
With eight first-team players all rested, it will be a chance for youth and second string players to put themselves forward for contention against Real Madrid, while Guardiola will also be keen to see how certain members of his squad react to playing at the highest level.
Probable Starting XI: Jorquera, Cácers, Sylvinho, V. Sánchez, Pique, Keita, Busquets, Gudjohnsen, Pedor, Hleb, Bojan
Shakhtar Donetsk
The visitors still have several players missing, with Ilsinho, Rustam Khudzhamov, Igor Duljaj and Olexandr Kucher all having missed the last few weeks of the campaign.
Probable Starting XI: Pyatov, Srna, Rat, Chygrynskiy, Kucher, Adriano, Hübschmann, Jadson, Willian, Brandao, Moreno
PREDICTION
It does not take a brave person to predict a Barcelona home win each time that they play in Camp Nou, but the fact that so many first-choice players will be missing could mean that Shakhtar have a chance of causing what would be a surprise. But the doubt comes when considering that the visitors have nothing of genuine need to play for, having already settled their place in the UEFA Cup in the new year.
Barcelona 2 - 0 Shakhtar Donetsk
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