Barca ready to attack United

Spanish giants going all out for a win

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 29th April 2008

carles puyol barcelona

Puyol: Disappointed by United

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Carles Puyol and Frank Rijkaard insist that Barcelona will not hold back against Manchester United.

The Spanish giants are currently preparing to face the Red Devils in the second-leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final.

The tie is all square after a goalless first encounter in Catalunya, but Barca insist that they will not employ the defensive tactics displayed by United at Camp Nou.

Club captain Puyol is aware that a crucial away goal could be enough to see the Primera Division side reach their second final in three years, and is adamant that they will be going all out for a win at Old Trafford.

Failure

"We have not travelled to Manchester with defensive ideas," the defender told the Daily Star. "We will not play like they did because we need to score.

"To play defensively for us would be a huge failure at Old Trafford.

"We will attack as we always do and players like Lionel Messi, Deco and Thierry Henry have all had time to rest in the last few days.

Risk

"Sincerely I was very disappointed with Manchester United's attitude in Barcelona.

"They played without any type of risk and obviously came for a 0-0 draw.

"With a team full of players like (Cristiano) Ronaldo, (Wayne) Rooney and (Carlos) Tevez we expected so much more, but maybe it was us who kept them quiet."

Positive

Under pressure Barca coach Rijkaard has also made it clear that he will be sending his side out with every intention of snatching a win against Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

"We need to get a positive result," said the Dutchman. "We need to score a goal to make sure we go through.

"We have got to impose our own style of play, get hold of the ball, pass it around, keep possession and maybe not get involved in United's style of play too much.

Fight

"We need to fight hard to gain our objective which is to reach the final.

"We can talk as much as we want about tactics and we're preparing hard but, once the match starts, it's about how it develops.

"You've got to believe in yourself, fight hard, work hard, show our quality out on the field. That will give us a good chance."