Puyol respectful ahead of Milan showdown

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has urged his team-mates to respect their Champions League Round of 16 opponents AC Milan.

The two European giants have played each other five times in the last two years, with Barcelona emerging triumphant in their latest clash last season. AC Milan managed to hold Barcelona to goalless draw during the first leg of their 2011/12 Champions League quarter-final tie, but a brace from Lionel Messi and an Andres Iniesta strike cancelled out Antonio Nocerino's early equalizer to knock the Serie A team out of the competition.

Although Puyol admitted that their upcoming opponents have lost significant quality over the summer, he was wary of underestimating Massimiliano Allegri's men.

"They are building a new project. A year ago they had experienced players. Now they are a team with less experience but they are very eager. Perhaps this makes them more dangerous," Puyol pointed out to the club's official website.

"[We] must start off strong and play its style of football, that’s the most important thing. We know it will be a complicated tie if we don’t do a good job."

Besides their Champions League match-up against Milan, Tito Vilanova's team also face several tricky fixtures over the next few weeks, including back-to-back El Clasico games in the Copa del Rey and La Liga before negotiating the second leg of their Round of 16 tie.

Nevertheless, the Barcelona skipper was confident that his team would stay on track as long as they remained focused on the task at hand.

"We know that these next 10 days are decisive," Puyol stated.

"We’ll fight to win the treble, even though we know it will be very difficult. We have to take it one game at a time until the end of the season."

The first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie between AC Milan and Barcelona takes place at the San Siro on Wednesday evening.