High-flying Barca will not take Racing lightly

Barcelona forward Pedro has warned his side not to underestimate Racing Santander when the teams meet at Camp Nou on Saturday night in La Liga.

There have been concerns that some Barca players may not be up to speed following their involvement during the international fixtures.

However, Pedro was quick to ease concerns and said his colleagues were unlikely to be tired ahead of the encounter.

“It always takes more effort to recover form because of the short time we have, the long journeys and the amount we have played in just a short space of time,” Pedro said.

“But we hope to get back into form quickly so that any fatigue goes unnoticed.”

“A number of players have returned from injury, so I think we will be in good stead for the game.”

“Racing will be a difficult opponent because they caused a number of problems for Real Madrid.”

The relegation strugglers held Jose Mourinho’s men to a 0-0 draw in La Liga last month.

And Racing Santander midfielder Papa Diop is confident they can produce a similar result this weekend.

Hector Cuper’s team will head into fixture as the underdogs, as they are currently third from bottom in the table with just four points from six matches.

Defending Spanish champions Barcelona are level on 14 points with Levante at the top of the standings and have won all three of their league encounters at home so far, scoring 18 goals in the process.

However, Diop believes that Pep Guardiola’s side could drop points against them and explains their strategy against the Catalan giants.

“I know that many think we aren’t capable of doing something at Camp Nou, but I think we can pick up points,” the 25-year-old said. “Barcelona are not going to win every game.”

“We have the team to withstand them and the important thing is not to concede any goals in the opening minutes, because this forces you to become more attacking.”