Guardiola: Busquets is not a racist

Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola has backed midfielder Sergio Busquets, who has denied racially abusing Real Madrid full-back Marcelo.

Busquets could miss the Champions League final against Manchester United on May 28 after UEFA started disciplinary proceedings against him.

A decision is expected on Sunday with the Spain international potentially facing a five-match ban if found guilty.

But Guardiola has thrown his support behind the 22-year-old after he denied the claims.

“I totally agree with Sergio Ramos in that only Busquets and Marcelo know what happened. I totally agree with him. Only they know,” he said.

“I wait on UEFA who have been presented with the allegations and on Sunday they will make their decision.”

“All I will say is that I have known Sergio for a long time and if he tells me something I believe him because I know him.”

The alleged incident occurred during Barcelona’s fiery 2-0 win over Real in their UEFA Champions League semi-final first-leg on April 27.

Barcelona will be presented with the La Liga trophy on Sunday when they welcome Deportivo La Coruna.

Guardiola said his team was aiming for victory, even if the title was wrapped up.

“They should know that Barcelona will go out to win the game whoever is playing on the pitch. I have no doubt about that,” he said.

“We don’t want to be responsible for circumstances that arise in this competition for other teams. Don’t think that we won’t go out to win the game tomorrow. We will go and fight until the end.”

His team comes up against a side still in a relegation fight, only three points clear of the bottom three with two games remaining.

Guardiola urged Barcelona fans to come and celebrate with the players, who he said deserved the recognition they would get on Sunday.

“It’s true that when you spend so long working towards something, you forget about it when you achieve it. We will continue training, and we will continue to celebrate after tomorrow’s game,” he said.

“We are going to play a good game and hope that the fans come. You can’t celebrate alone, you need other people too.”