Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde wants his side to rise above the constant wave of expectations as they aim to beat Borussia Dortmund and reach the Champions League knockout stages.
The Blaugrana needed a second-half fightback to win 2-1 at bottom club Leganes with a late goal from Arturo Vidal to keep themselves top of LaLiga ahead of Real Madrid.
Valverde, though, accepts learning to deal with the pressures of leading from the front comes with the territory at the Nou Camp.
âThe waves are always going to be there, we are not going to fool ourselves,â the Barcelona coach said.
âWe come from winning a match in which we have suffered. Here at Barcelona, it is required to win, to make a soccer lesson in every game and sometimes it is complicated.
âThe good thing about football is that when you talk a lot and there is a lot of football, there is always a game after which you can win, play well and make people happy.â
Valverde added at a press conference: âWe can improve things from the other day and there are things we can do better.
âThere are also things that we have to settle with. The attitude of the team was very good and you also have to value those things.
âWe are looking to get results with our style of play. We always look to attack, but sometimes the opponent doesnât allow us to or makes things difficult for us.â
Barcelona are top of Group F, a point ahead of Dortmund, and can make sure of a place in the last 16 with victory on Wednesday night.
The Spaniards would also progress if Slavia Prague beat Inter Milan, or both the games end in a draw.
âItâs a very important match in terms of qualification â and for them too. If we win, weâll be top of the group and of course thatâs what we want,â Valverde said.
âWe are strong at home and the prize to be had from this game is huge. Dortmund will be going for it, too.
âAny of the other three sides in the group would swap positions with us right now, but we are not underestimating Dortmund.â
Barcelona will be without defender Gerard Pique through suspension, Clement Lenglet is carrying a calf strain while full-backs Nelson Semedo and Jordi Alba remain sidelined.
Samuel Umtiti, himself returning from a serious knee injury, can provide some cover at the back, and midfielder Ivan Rakitic is fit from an Achilles problem, having came on as a second-half substitute at Leganes.
Dortmund coach Lucien Favre, meanwhile, has seen his position come under scrutiny after inconsistent form.
Favreâs side are sixth in the Bundesliga following a 3-3 home draw with bottom club Paderborn â which was only salvaged by late goals from Axel Witsel and Marco Reus.
âWe have to do a great job tomorrow, Barcelona is a very strong team,â Favre told a press conference.
âWe had a number of great chances (against them) at home and pressed and defended well. We have to do the same tomorrow.â
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.Â
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.Â
That is invaluable.Â
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalistâs job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readersâ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readersâ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the âreport this postâ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here