Barcelona vs Villarreal preview - Barca set for title defence

Posted Monday, August 29, 2011 by PA

Barcelona begin the defence of their Primera Division title against Villarreal on Monday night in buoyant mood after adding two more crowns to their increasingly overcrowded trophy room in the last fortnight - but coach Pep Guardiola is remaining grounded.

After winning the Champions League and La Liga double last season, Barca defeated arch rivals Real Madrid to win the Spanish Supercopa 5-4 on aggregate earlier this month before seeing off Porto 2-0 in the UEFA Super Cup on Friday.

That latest triumph was the 12th title Barca have won since Guardiola took charge in 2008, and few would bet against the Catalan giants increasing that tally this season.

Guardiola is not getting carried away, though, saying following his side's triumph over Porto: "We've won two titles and we are very happy with that, now the league will show us if we continue to be as competitive as we have been in recent years.

"This team have to show again what we have shown over the last few seasons. We have made a good start and now we have to get down to the day-to-day work."

He added: "There's always room for improvement. I have to be on alert - that's an obligation of the manager. It takes a long time to build a team and just a moment for it to fall apart."

Striker David Villa said in AS: "We're very happy to continue with our run of titles and this will give us a lot of strength and motivation to start a very tough season.

"I'm happy, because I've been here little more than a year and this is my fifth title since I arrived, something I couldn't have dreamed about."

Barca will be without Brazilian duo Dani Alves (suspension) and Adriano (injury) while captain Carles Puyol has only just returned to full training following knee surgery in June.

Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez could be in line for their Primera Division debuts after joining Barca in a big-money moves from Arsenal and Udinese respectively this summer.

Villarreal finished fourth last season but a massive 34 points behind champions Barca.

The Yellow Submarine have lost two of their Spain internationals this summer with Santi Cazorla joining Malaga and Joan Capdevila going to Benfica.

However, they have so far managed to keep hold of star strikers Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar, who between them netted 50 goals in all competitions last term.

Coach Juan Carlos Garrido said on his club's website: "I'm happy that Giuseppe is at Villarreal, but also Cani, Bruno (Soriano), Borja Valero, Marcos Senna, Wakaso (Mubarak), Joan Oriol...

"I'm happy to have the players that I have. Obviously you can always improve, ask for more, but in the end you have to adapt to the players you have and get the best out of them."

Regarding Monday's clash, Garrido added: "Our objective is to play our best football and in a game like this that's all that counts. We need to defend well, run a lot, do everything perfectly.

"We've heard in recent years many secret formulas to beating Barca and I don't see anybody having found the answer.

"We're going there with humility but also with high hopes. Barca have won everything and have won with almost insulting ease against great opponents, but we have high hopes and will try to win."