Guardiola wary of eastern chill

FC Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola believes victory at home to FC Rubin Kazan is vital to their progression with difficult trips to Russia and Ukraine to come, and he expects his side to respond positively after losing their perfect Liga record in the goalless draw at Valencia CF on Saturday. His opposite number Kurban Berdyev is hoping his underdogs can overcome the loss of influential striker Aleksandr Bukharov, insisting "we haven't come here to play defensively".

Quotes
Josep Guardiola, Barcelona coach
I have a lot of respect for every team, especially in the Champions League, but if we win it will be an important step for us. We would be three or four points away from qualifying which is vital considering we have games in Russia and Ukraine to come. The away games will be very difficult, not just because of the climate but because of the quality of the teams. People don't know much about Rubin, but I have studied them very carefully and I know we have to concentrate hard because they can cause surprises. They are the Russian champions and that says it all. I congratulate Valencia for the great match they played and now it's another game, another challenge. We weren't as good as we can be on Saturday and that means we have a lot of room for improvement. Ibrahimović is training. I hope he will be fit, but we have to be cautious with his injury.

Kurban Berdyev, Rubin coach
Bukharov's absence will have some kind of impact on us but not too much. We will try to play as we usually do, although the defence will have to change slightly. Our injuries won't affect our game because others will come in. I hope God listens to our prayers, but of course Barcelona are favourites to win. We expect Rubin to show what they are capable of, not just in defence but also attack, however we will have to wait and see what happens. We can't talk about fear, but Messi is a very dangerous player. He's not the only one – each player in their position is also dangerous. We have seen videos of all Barcelona's games, but we haven't come here to play defensively. We want to attack but we will see if that's possible or not.

Weekend results
17/10/09 Valencia CF 0-0 Barcelona

• Barcelona's club record-equalling six-match winning start to the Liga campaign – and run of five successive victories – was ended at Valencia.

17/10/09 Rubin 2-1 FC Khimki
(Gökdeniz 31, Kasaev 54; Antipenko 88)

• Victory against struggling Khimki was Rubin's first in six matches in all competitions.

• Alejandro Domínguez has scored eleven goals in his last 12 games, all but four coming from the penalty spot.

Team news
Barcelona
Out: Thierry Henry (right thigh), Gabriel Milito (knee)
Doubtful: none
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: none

Rubin
Out: Aleksandr Bukharov (knee), Petr Bystrov (heatstroke)
Doubtful: none
Suspended: Macbeth Sibaya
Misses next match if booked: none

• Bukharov was replaced four minutes into the match against Khimki after falling awkwardly and hurting his wrist.

Background
• Barcelona went top in Group F after a home defeat of FC Dynamo Kyiv last time out having opened with a goalless draw at FC Internazionale Milano. Rubin, however, have plenty of work to do having lost 3-1 at Dynamo before a 1-1 draw with Inter.

• While this is Rubin's first match against a Spanish club, Barcelona have recorded three wins and one defeat in four previous home fixtures against Russian opponents.

• The holders' last match against Russian opposition was a UEFA Champions League first group stage meeting with FC Lokomotiv Moskva at Camp Nou on 23 October 2002.

• Frank de Boer scored the only goal for a team that included Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernández. Víctor Valdés and Andrés Iniesta were on the Barcelona bench.

Did you know?
• Rubin captain Sergei Semak suffered twice at the hands of Barcelona's Spanish internationals Andrés Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Xavi
Hernández at UEFA EURO 2008™. Semak's Russia side succumbed 4-1 to Spain in their opening group game and then 3-0 in the semi-final, where Xavi scored the first goal.