FCBARCELONA.CAT

07.12.2008 12:01

Shakhtar watch Barça v Valencia live

Vanessa Forns

Barça’s opponents next Tuesday, Shakhtar Donetsk, were in the stands to watch Pep Guardiola’s stunning victory over Valencia at the Camp Nou.

The Ukrainians arrived on Saturday in order to be able to watch their rivals in action in the league fixture. They gathered by gate 411 in the third tier of the stands and bore witness to the absolute goal-fest in which the man-of-the-match Thierry Henry scored a spectacular hat-trick.

Crowd pressure

At the same time, the Shakhtar Donetsk got a first-hand taste of the kind of pressure playing in front of the Camp Nou crowd can generate. Last night’s was the best attendance of the season , 83,000, and that was another reason for the convincing 4-0 win.

Shakhtar’s plans

Now thinking ahead to Tuesday, in which there is very little at stake as Barça are already champions of the group and the Ukrainians have already made sure of a UEFA Cup berth, Mircea Lucesco’s side will train on Sunday evening behind closed doors at 18.00 in the Ciudad Deportiva.

Then on Monday the Shakhtar manager and one player will speak to media in the Camp Nou pressroom at 19.00, an hour before the team trains inside the actual stadium. As is common protocol in the Champions League the first 15 minutes will be before the media, and the rest of the session will be behind closed doors.