PERHAPS something was lost in translation.

Tito Vilanova was forced to backtrack last night after the Barcelona coach initially suggested that victory for the Catalan giants in tonight's Champions League match against Celtic would allow him to field his kids in their remaining group matches.

This formed the high point of what – considering the Barca players had been mobbed as they arrived at a Glasgow city centre hotel yesterday afternoon – was a surprisingly low-key pre-training press conference at Celtic Park. There were no Bernd Schuster-style "anti-football" rants here, as the long-term assistant to the former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola pieced together a combination of tributes to Celtic on the occasion of the club's 125th anniversary; the usual platitudes about the ferocity of the Parkhead atmosphere; and the odd curious cross-cultural slip or two, such as when he appeared to refer to watching the Parkhead club winning the European Cup in 1967, despite the fact he wasn't born until September 1968. "I haven't been here before but I have heard a lot about this stadium and the atmosphere," Vilanova said. "Just from looking at it we know there is going to be a great atmosphere and that is going to be really good for the players. I have been watching [Celtic] recently because we are playing against them and as a child I remember watching them playing in the European Cup but I was very young. I would like to congratulate them because 125 years is many years and we are very, very happy to be playing here.

"We know how difficult it will be and how important is to try to beat Celtic. Last time we could only beat them at the last minute. We know they are very good at set-pieces and quick counter- attacks as well. I don't know how they will play in front of their own crowd, but they weren't that defensive [at Camp Nou].

"When you play against Barcelona, you are always forced to defend very close to your goal. Everyone is free to play whatever way they choose. We were never calm and relaxed about it. We knew we could be picked off on the counter."

The main intrigue for Vilanova to confront is a selection dilemma in central defence. Gerard Pique is finally fit again after suffering a foot injury against Spartak Moscow in September, but the coach said last night that he would wait to see if the player suffered any reaction to training. Should he not make it, with Sergio Busquets serving the second game of a two-match suspension, Vilanova may have to rely on teenager Marc Bartra to partner Carlos Mascherano again.

"There is a chance that he [Pique] will play but we need to see how he trains and how he is feeling," Vilanova said. "It is a long time since he has played and because his injury was to his foot he hasn't been able to train. All the players who have played in that position have done very well and we know we can count on them in the future, but it will be good to get Pique and [Carlos] Puyol back together soon because they have more experience."

Alex Song, who featured for Arsenal in a Champions League play-off match at Celtic Park in 2009, is another option at centre-back. His verdict on Celtic's performance in Camp Nou was different from his coach's. Song said: "I played here three years ago and I know the atmosphere is very good, but we are Barcelona and we are coming here to try to get three points. They [Celtic] just tried to defend at the Nou Camp but we kept playing because Barcelona do that, no matter what the score is, and in the end we won."

With Barcelona eight points clear of Real Madrid in La Liga, the only other sources of recent drama for the manager and players was Lionel Messi's yearning for a goal to mark the birth of his son – the Argentine has taken to wearing a child's pacifier down his sock – and an ongoing debate between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over who should win the Golden Ball award. Song has his top three picked already. "I would go for Messi, Xavi and Iniesta," he deadpanned.