Barca wary of Shakhtar slip up ahead of 'clasico'

Madrid - Pep Guardiola today faces a delicate balancing act away to Shakhtar Donetsk, making sure to guard against unpleasant surprises while a double-header against Real Madrid looms on the horizon.

Barca hold a comfortable 5-1 quarter-final, first-leg advantage that has them on the brink of the last four of the Champions League, but their coach is desperate to avoid any sense of relaxation among his players.

The Ukrainians caused Barca plenty of problems in the opening minutes at the Nou Camp last week when the pace of their forwards clearly unsettled the hosts' defence. "Although we are defending a good result it will be tremendously difficult," striker Pedro said.

"There are 90 minutes and anything can happen. They have a great team. We won't change our style. We'll go there to attack and to score goals."

Maintaining their winning momentum will be important because they face a potential La Liga title decider away to Real Madrid on Saturday. Guardiola described this clash as "a unique opportunity to strike a decisive blow," after his side came back to beat lowly Almeria 3-1 at home on Saturday.

They top the standings by eight points with seven games left to play.

Four days after the ‘clasico', they face Real Madrid again in the King's Cup final, and assuming Jose Mourinho's men suffer no slip ups on Wednesday, the Spanish giants are likely to meet again in the Champions League semis.

Source: http://gulfnews.com

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