Barcelona warned to be on guard in Munich

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola warned his side not to think they were already in the Champions League semi-finals, calling for a professional performance in Tuesday’s quarter-final match against Bayern Munich.

Barca lead 4-0 after a whirlwind first leg display at Camp Nou and Bayern are going to have to pull something special out of the hat to overturn that deficit in Munich.

“Bayern are capable of scoring four goals,” said Guardiola. “(Franck) Ribery, (Luca) Toni, (Bastian) Schweinsteiger and company are dangerous players.

“I didn’t have to see them score four goals (Bayern beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 on Saturday) to know that.”

Guardiola rested Samuel Eto’o, Carles Puyol, Xavi and Yaya Toure for Saturday’s 2-0 win over Recreativo Huelva and all are expected to return against Bayern despite the first leg cushion.

“The tie isn’t over yet and the return leg won’t be easy,” said midfielder Toure. “We have to play with caution because Bayern is a big club. We have to win and score two or three goals.

Lionel Messi, Eto’o and Thierry Henry scored all the goals against Bayern and Toure believes the trio are the best on the planet.

“We have players of great quality such as Messi, Eto’o and Henry, in my opinion the best forwards (in the world),” he added.

Spanish international Xavi echoed his words and said Barca would go for another win in Munich.

“We have players up front that can make the difference,” said Xavi. “Normally teams have one or two players but we have three that can change the game and that is fantastic for the team. We will go for the win in Munich.

Even without several first teamers Barca maintained their six-point lead over Real Madrid at the summit with a 2-0 win over Recre.

Andres Iniesta scored the first and made the second to earn praise from the coach.

“I?m pleased for Iniesta,” said Guardiola. “Sometimes he?s a bit down because he wants to score more goals than he does, but as long as he keeps doing what he does we?re more than happy. He?s special in so many ways.”

“It was hard for us against Recre but things are not always easy in football. There are eight games left and we are closer (to the title).”

Real beat Valladolid 2-0 to stay in touch with Barca and Guardiola admits the form of the double champions is keeping his side on their toes.

“There have been teams in the past that have won the title with 70 points but we have some way to go yet and we need 80 plus points to become champions,” said the Barca coach.

“Real Madrid won’t slip up much with one game a week. They are helping us to stay on our toes and not drop the pace. The challenge is to keep our shape. Teams can beat us we are not unstoppable.”

Barca are going for an historic treble – no Spanish team has ever managed to win the league, Kings Cup and Champions League – and Guardiola says their football merits a trophy.

“We have to win something this season otherwise it just wouldn’t make sense,” said the 1992 European Cup winner.

Barca have failed to win anything for the past two seasons with their last success back in 2006 when they won a league and Champions League double.