Guardiola fully focused on Chelsea

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has highlighted the importance of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Chelsea at Camp Nou.

The Catalan giants host the Blues looking to overturn a one-goal deficit after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge earlier in mid-week.

After Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Real Madrid has left Barca practically out of the race for the Liga title, Guardiola has urged his players to focus on the continental match against the Blues.

“We will see on Tuesday if we can pass this test, but I think that our players will lift themselves up and try to find a way for things to go well for us against Chelsea,” he told reporters.

“What happens on Tuesday will mark what is left of the season.

“Although it does not seem like it, these lads have been playing together for a long time and they have had setbacks like this before and were able to pick themselves up.”

Looking ahead to Tuesday’s match, Guardiola admitted that Roberto Di Matteo’s men will be in a better physical condition that his own.

“Chelsea were able to change eight players for their match on Saturday,” Guardiola noted. “We were not.”