Motivation no problem for Barca, says Guardiola

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is confident his players will have plenty of motivation to win the Club World Cup in Japan this week.

The UEFA Champions League holders arrived in Tokyo on Sunday and are currently preparing for their semi-final match against Al Sadd on Thursday.

“I told the players that a big chance like this doesn’t come many times in life, so let’s make something of it,” Guardiola said.

“The desire to win and the opportunity to become world champions will be enough motivation for the players.”

“The players all realise that this is a difficult competition and that there can always be surprises.”

Guardiola then revealed how he advised his players to adapt to the time difference after arriving in Japan.

“I have told the players not to sleep until tonight in order to fight the jet lag, and even if they take a siesta they should make it short,” he said.

The Barcelona boss also briefly looked back at last Saturday’s 3-1 Clasico win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“Real Madrid are often said to be number one team of the 20th century,” he said. “We’re not that far away from them at the moment; we’ve beaten them several times recently and I don’t think they’re stronger than us.”

Barcelona are level on 37 points with Real Madrid on the La Liga table, but have played one game more than Jose Mourinho’s side.