FCBARCELONA.CAT

28.11.2009 14:39

“There is no game more important for us”

Jordi Clos

Sunday's game against Real Madrid is Pep Guardiola's number one priority, but at his press conference this afternoon he refused to commit himself to playing either Ibra or Messi. Guardiola also praised Sunday's opponents' record this season.

“This game is a priority for me – there is nothing more important for us”, according to Pep, “We've prepared it very thoroughly and the line up against Kiev hasn't come into my reckoning”.

Messi and Ibra still doubtful

Despite that, Guardiola was unable to reveal whether Ibra and Messi would be playing against Madrid: “the doctors and I will decide on whether they play tomorrow, they've trained pretty well, but there are always risks with muscle injuries and they've not been back many days. We can win with Messi and without him. He's a very important player and it's better for us if he plays, but we'll have a look at him tomorrow and make our decision”.

Need to show Tuesday's ambition

Tuesday's win against Inter showed what the squad are capable of and Guardiola stressed “the players know why we won that game and we have to maintain that tone and ambition. However we can't say that just because we played well against Inter we'll win easily on Sunday. People say we are playing better and more attractively than them, but they are ahead of us in the table”.

Dangers of Madrid

As regards Madrid, Guardiola expressed clearly his respect for Pellegrini's team: “he makes controlling possession important and he wants to dominate. They are a very well organised team, they use the counter attack well to match the characteristics of their players. They've conceded just four goals on the road so far in the league and that's not a bad statistic. I've seen a lot of their games and I don't think they look bad at all – they are very good and that's why they are leaders at the moment”.

Last year is history

Guardiola also insisted that this season's game will have nothing to do with last year's meeting between the two at the Nou Camp: “that was different and we were in a better situation. I expect us to see both teams coming out to attack, I can't imagine Madrid will play for a draw – if you look at the games Barca have played against Pellegrini, you'll see he always aims to dominate . It should be a good game for the fans and we'll have to play well to win”.