Speaking at the pre-game press conference, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola dismissed the notion that Barca can already start planning for the last four. “If we are not at out best,” he warned, “Shakhtar will bulldoze us”.

The coach of FC Barcelona as always expressed great respect for the team’s next opponent. He said that Shakhtar is “packed with good Brazilians, a very strong team that has grown over the years, getting better and better. People underestimate Shakhtar and I don’t like what I see and hear. People think we are already in the semi-finals.” He warned not to “take Shakhtar for granted. The feelings I have before the match aren’t that good: we have to remember this is the quarter-finals. Believe me when I say they are a super team: they are aggressive, work hard, play well, and have a very good coach. That’s why they’re in the quarter-finals, finished top of their group ahead of Arsenal. They have a lot of strong points and this season they have impressed me more than ever.” The Mister also underlined that “if we are not at out best, Shakhtar will bulldoze us.”

At the same time, Guardiola said, “I believe in my team, though. We’re in the [Spanish] Cup final, fighting for the Liga crown and among the best eight teams in Europe, but you have to earn titles and to do that we have to play very well tomorrow.”

“Every season we start off well, score loads of goals and then dip a bit at the end. Saturday’s league match against Almeria will be very tough mentally and that’s the biggest danger for us: we’re at our best when we’re stretched,” he said, totalbarca.com reported.