Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola called Wednesday's King's Cup semi-final second leg against Valencia "a game for men" while revealing little about the state of his injured players.
Earlier this week Barcelona won the World Laureus Award for best team and are seeking their third King's Cup final appearance in four years. They are also in the running for a possible 14th title since Guardiola took over in 2008.
The world and European champions have suffered a string of injuries, though, which have contributed to their dip in form in recent weeks. Carlos Puyol's away goal in the 1-1 draw from the first leg gives Barca a slight edge against a team who have always made life tough for them.
Spanish internationals Andres Iniesta and Pedro returned from injury to training with the rest of the squad on Monday, only taking part in some of the session. Playmaker Xavi has been surprisingly rested for their last two matches, including last week's first leg, while Chile forward Alexis Sanchez has been struggling with a shoulder problem.
Midfielder Sergio Busquets needed stitches in a gashed knee after Saturday's 2-1 league win over Real Sociedad while Ibrahim Afellay and David Villa are long-term injury victims. But Guardiola is licking his lips at the "perfect situation" his team is in.
Pep Guardiola, Barcelona Coach, said, "It is a perfect situation in the perfect stadium. It is a perfect situation. When I started to fight for the Spanish Cup, I wanted this. The semifinals - the second leg - with the chance of reaching the final without losing the chance in the first leg. The situation is ideal. It's perfect. And if some of the boys can't make it tomorrow, others will."
巴塞羅那主教練瓜迪奧拉稱星期三的國王杯半決賽第二回合對陣瓦倫西亞是”男人的比賽”，同時(shí)也全面展示了一些他受傷球員的狀態(tài)。
瓜迪奧拉表示這是在完美的體育場的最理想的狀態(tài)。這是完美的情況。當(dāng)我開始爭取西甲聯(lián)賽冠軍時(shí),我希望的就是這個(gè)。我們已經(jīng)做好準(zhǔn)備面對瓦倫西亞。