Guardiola tips Real to attack

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola expects Real Madrid to go on the offensive in the teams’ crucial La Liga clash at Camp Nou on Saturday.

League leaders Real go into the match in Catalonia with a four-point advantage over reigning champions Barca.

A share of the spoils would see Jose Mourinho’s front runners preserve their buffer, but Guardiola does not anticipate a cagey approach from the visitors.

“They’ll come to win the game, they’ll push us hard, they will try to find a way through our defence, which is one of their greatest qualities,” Guardiola said.

“I imagine they’ll come here and try to win the game and not play to draw.”

If Real do emerge with a positive result, Barca will be all but certain to surrender the league title they have made their own during the previous three seasons.

Even if his team do hand back their crown, Guardiola will not consider the campaign a failure.

“Thinking in winner and loser terms is something I disagree with,” he said.

“We have won two Champions League finals against Manchester United and I don’t think of Manchester United as losers. I disagree with those who say that the second place is the first of the losers.

“To me Real Madrid hasn’t been a loser in the last three years. This season we have been as much as thirteen points behind Real Madrid when we played Atletico, but my players have been excellent the whole year and I’m proud of them.

“We were a long way behind them but now we are up there, just like Real Madrid chased us in 2009.”