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Barcelona practice before Champions League opening

Team tries to play a good game in front of home crowd, facing a superior opponent

Villa de Aranda is off to a good season start. On their opening game, they were on the verge of producing a surprise. However, the last shot for the win by Santo was cleared by Pablo Hernandez, the Huescin goalkeeper. The Zaragoza team left with a smile, despite opening with a defeat, the team atmosphere is good because they played a very good game. It is clear that they cannot count on beating Barcelona today but the goal is still to produce good games and put up resistance to Barcelona, a team which has no competition in Asobal. 

- Barcelona and Atletico were close rivals before, but the other teams were not far back either. The strength Barcelona is showing in the preparation phase and the beginning of the season is impressive - said home team coach Cuetara trying to be as clear as he can. He is convinced that his team will make a maximum effort to put up a good performance for the fans. 

- We have to take all our games seriously. This game will not be different because we have to show respect to our fans and our sponsors. Despite the fact we face a much stronger team, we will try to do our part the best that we can and keep our play philosophy during the game - explained Cuetara who will be playing without the injured Javi Munoz while all other players are available and ready to play. 

The powerful Katalon motor will first go to Burgos and play a game before they switch to the Champions League and their Sunday game in Skopje. As expected, the Barcelona team will not face a worthy rival in the national competition this year and they showed this when they beat a good team Ciudad Encantada in the first match with a plus 20 score. Xavi Pascual's team is miles ahead from all the other teams in Asobal and this could even be a problem for them as they will not have a tough match in their 30 rounds of the national competition. Coach Pascual will have to find ways to keep the players motivated and make the most out of these games. It is a common thing from two seasons ago for a couple of junior players to play just to develop and try to earn their place in the first team. This also helps the tired players to have some time off. Victor Tomas is one of the players to rest in the first round and coach Pascual announced that the veteran Juanin Garcia will be resting in this game as well. 

The difference between Barcelona and the rest of the teams in the domestic competition this season is enormous. Several days ago, the coach of the second best team, Naturhouse, said that many teams would not work too hard against Barcelona, aware that they can get nothing from those games. Even last year, Barcelona were leagues above most of their opponents, and now with the arrival of Karabatic and Lazarov they have gained an extra dimension, and the first games showed that superiority. Naturhouse ended up at nine goals behind in the Supercup match, and Encantada were destroyed 41-21 at the opening of the season, in which Barcelona had a 16-2 initial lead. This away game is a lead-in for the Champions League, and its second half could be pedestrian, but during the first period, Barca should go full steam ahead. I think that Villa Aranda are unlikely to trail behind by less than five goals in the first half. Last season, Barca triumphed here with 31-19.