Barcelona vs BATE Borisov preview - All-change for Barca

Posted Tuesday, December 06, 2011 by PA

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has promised his much-changed line-up will go all out for victory against BATE Borisov in their final Champions League Group H game.

The Spanish and European champions head into their sixth pool match already assured of their place in the last 16 and top spot in the group thanks to their 3-2 win at AC Milan last time out.

Guardiola plans to rest many of his big names - including star trio Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta - with one eye on Saturday night's clash with Primera Division leaders Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

But the Barca boss expects the likes of Pedro, Isaac Cuenca and Thiago Alcantara to still cause the Belarusian visitors plenty of problems at the Nou Camp.

"We've earned the right to play this game with whoever we want with a great effort against Milan," Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference this evening.

"There's prestige at stake. An important economic injection in the club is always good and the players will give everything. It's up to us to play very well in this game."

The Catalan club have happy memories of playing BATE, having triumphed 5-0 in Minsk when the teams met for the first time in the group campaign.

"They were very defensive, playing deep, waiting to break with [Mateja] Kezman," Guardiola recalled.

"I do not know what their approach will be - ambitious, for sure. All the teams playing in the Champions League deserve respect."

Viktor Goncharenko's men head into the match two points below third-placed Viktoria Plzen after their 1-0 defeat against the Czech champions in their last outing.

That costly reverse on matchday five left BATE needing to beat Barca, and for Plzen to lose at home to Milan, in order to clinch a Europa League berth.

They will have their work cut out having never won a Champions League away game and having lost all five games against Spanish opposition.

Goncharenko expressed his regret that Barcelona would not field their strongest line-up, but knows they will still be formidable opposition.

"We would like to play against the club's big players. It would be very exciting for me as a coach and a lesson for the whole team," he said.

"But we understand that the level of the players who will start tomorrow is also very high."

Goncharenko labelled the young fringe players "very high level players" who will make it difficult for his team - but the BATE boss wants no repeat of September's 5-0 hammering.

"The important thing is to have no fear," he said. "If fear grips you, you cannot show your best. The most important thing is not to repeat our mistakes."

He added: "We know that this match is very important to us, and the club, and we have options. In all groups of the Champions League it is always intriguing to the last moment."