Barca looking forward to Al Sadd clash

Posted Tuesday, December 13, 2011 by ESPN

After beating Real Madrid in El Clasico, Barcelona defenders Carles Puyol and Dani Alves were looking forward to the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

The duo addressed the press in Tokyo on Monday ahead of their semi-final clash with Asian champions Al Sadd.

While neither professed much knowledge of their opponents, they claimed Barca would give them all due respect.

"We've already adjusted to the time zones and we all slept well," said skipper Puyol. "Many of us have experience with the national team and we're used to this sort of travel."

Speaking about their win over Real, Alves remarked: "We played [the Clasico] well. We're content with how we did, but now's the time to look forward and add another line to Barcelona's history."

"I respect any team that survives in this tournament, and they respect us too," continued the fiery Brazilian.

"We will try to analyse the opponent and beat them,"added Alves in quotes reported on the Marca website. "We have concentrated on getting things right in this competition, we have done the hard work."

Puyol admitted that Barcelona would be looking to erase the memories of their last trip to Japan in 2006 when they lost to Brazilian side Internacional in the final of the same competition.

"I cannot say [my memories of our last time in Japan] were nice, because we played defensively and surrendered a goal," he said.

"But we're very grateful to have [so many Barcelona supporters] every time we play in Japan, and I hope we leave them satisfied on Thursday."

Pep Guardiola's players took part in a training session earlier on Monday at the home stadium of the Yokohama Marinos team.