Barca keen to bounce back

Posted Wednesday, November 04, 2009 by PA

Barcelona will look to get the defence of their Champions League title back on track on Wednesday night and avenge their shock defeat to Rubin Kazan a fortnight ago.

Barca are already facing a serious test of their mettle with just one point separating all four teams in Group F and with Pep Guardiola's still to play an away game in eastern Europe - they meet Russia's Rubin tomorrow and then Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev in their final outing in December.

Rubin and Dynamo, the reigning champions of their respective countries, are likely to make it hard for Barca and the sub-zero conditions the Catalan giants are set to encounter on the two trips could be just as tricky.

Barca director of football Txiki Begiristain admits his big concern ahead of tomorrow's match is not their opponents, but the state of the playing surface at the Centralniy stadium, saying: "If the pitch is OK then I'm calm. I believe we are the better team and the main thing is that the players warm up well."

Begiristain was not ignoring the threat posed by Kazan either though, with the Russian outfit having created a huge stir by their victory at the Nou Camp two weeks ago.

Aleksandr Ryazantsev's long-range piledriver early on and Gokdeniz Karadeniz's breakaway goal in the second half inflicted a first competitive defeat on Barca since last May, and although Guardiola's side remained top of Group F, they are now only level on four points with Dynamo and Rubin, with Inter Milan only a point behind.

Recalling his initial impression when the Champions League draw was made, Begiristain added: "I remember perfectly how I assessed the draw. I remember emphasising the difficulty of the away matches. It's a very balanced group in every sense. Inter and Barca were the favourites and now we have to fight to qualify in two away matches."

He added about tomorrow's opponents: "Kazan work hard and have a good squad of players. We mustn't forget that they are champions of their country and have a good budget."

Guardiola has selected a strong 19-man squad for the trip to Russia, including flying full-back Dani Alves, who was given the green light to return to action yesterday having initially been expected to be out for three weeks after suffering a thigh injury in the first meeting with Rubin.

That means Barca are only missing defensive duo Dmytro Chygrynskiy and Gabriel Milito for the match.

Rubin remain on course to retain their Russian title, winning each of their last three games to keep just ahead of second-placed Spartak Moscow, who are one point behind the reigning champions but have just three matches left to try and overhaul them.

Rubin had gone five competitive games without a win immediately prior to their current good run - which includes that victory at the Nou Camp - and Kurban Berdyev's side appear to be hitting form at just the right time.

Berdyev also has South African midfielder Macbeth Sibaya available again following a three-match European ban.