Barcelona counting on Messi against Viktoria Plzen

Posted Wednesday, October 19, 2011 by timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Barcelona is counting on Lionel Messi to maintain his excellent scoring form when it hosts Czech champion Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Messi's pair of goals in a 3-0 victory over Racing Santander on Saturday took the Argentina striker's season tally to 16 from 12 games and kept the Spanish champions top of the league.

The defending European champions face the first of back-to-back games against Plzen starting at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona and AC Milan share four points in Group H, with the Italian champions beginning a double-header against Belarusian side BATE Borisov, which has one point along with Plzen.

"These are two important games, six points to be won," said Barcelona defender Eric Abidal, whose team opened the group with a draw against Milan. "We know that if we can reach 10 points we are practically in the next round."

Messi's impressive scoring run has taken him to second on the club's all-time scoring list with 196 goals but masks its bad luck injury problems.

Andres Iniesta returned Saturday against Santander with Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez injured and defender Gerard Pique missing again after injuring his leg for the second time this season.

So coach Pep Guardiola is eager to see what Iniesta can do.

"You should have seen him training this week," Guardiola said. "For him the important thing is to be happy. He is a different kind of player, a gem. We hope he can help us a lot."

Plzen faces a Barcelona squad that has outscored Spanish league opponents 21-0 at Camp Nou stadium this season and has dominated its adversaries 14-0 in its last four matches, overall. It is currently on an 11-game home unbeaten run.

Plzen coach Pavel Vrba's team is coming off a 2-0 loss to Milan and a 1-1 draw in domestic play, and Guardiola insists he will take no chances.

"I will put the team on the pitch that I think is best suited to win the game," the Catalan coach said.

Plzen's players have no illusions about the difficult task ahead.

"Originally, I thought we could use two goalkeepers," Plzen playmaker Pavel Horvath said in jest. "Of course, there's fear that we could concede eight goals. But I believe if we're able to play as a team we can at least complicate a little bit Barcelona's position as a clear favourite."

In Italy, Milan looks to maintain its European campaign going against a BATE side that Barcelona had little trouble routing 5-0 in its last game.

Milan is hopeful a victory will help it build some momentum in Serie A, where it won just its second game Saturday with a 3-0 win over Palermo.

Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic set up two of those goals, easing some worries in the club after the Swedish international said he was not enjoying the sport as much as before.

"I can assure you that Ibrahimovic never stopped enjoying himself," Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said. "Also, because we're getting into form now."

Seven-time champion Milan may miss defender Thiago Silva, who is questionable with a left thigh injury, while striker Alexandre Pato is still out with a right thigh problem.

"It won't be an easy match," said coach Viktor Goncharenko, whose BATE beat Minsk 2-0 in the Belarus league on Friday and leads the domestic standings. "But I hope that our team spirit will help us to win."