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Barca confident for Mallorca

Fri 6th, November 2009

Barcelona, Spain (Sports Network) - Barcelona has scored one goal or less in five of its last six La Liga and the Champions League matches, but manager Pep Guardiola said "it worries me relatively little that we have not scored many goals."

Other than a 6-1 thrashing of Real Zaragoza on Oct. 25, Barca has been shutout twice and scored just one goal in its other three matches going back to Oct. 3 in the league and the Champions League.

Barca settled for a 1-1 tie against Osasuna in La Liga last weekend, then tied Rubin 0-0 midweek in the Champions League to leave its advancement in doubt, although Guardiola was "confident we can do it."

Entering Saturday's game against Mallorca, which is six points off the leaders in fifth, Guardiola insisted the players weren't worried about the recent lack of goals either.

"I do not have the feeling that it is concerning the players," Guardiola said. "We have played against teams that have set themselves up well defensively and despite not scoring, we had 13 chances against Rubin, so I am calm.

"The goals will come."

Offseason addition Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been one exception, bagging a team- high seven goals in La Liga and eight overall, and Guardiola knows how much of a difference he has made this season.

"At the beginning he was suffering physically because he had not done all the preseason training. But after four or five games his performances changed and now he is much more decisive," Guardiola said.

Seydou Keita has been a surprise with six goals, tied with Lionel Messi. Barca welcomed fullback Dani Alves back against Rubin, and he will likely feature again this weekend and adds a key piece to the attack.

Despite the setback against Osasuna, when Barca dropped two points on a late own goal by Gerard Pique, and the surprising loss at home to Rubin, Barca has won all four of its La Liga matches at the Camp Nou and could easily break out of its funk against Mallorca.

Guardiola would not overlook Mallorca, though, and it's easy to understand why with the visitors sitting so close in the standings.

"They are fifth in the table and that says it all," Guardiola said. "They have a very good coach and their team is well structured. They are also the fifth highest scoring team in the division and despite all the changes to personnel in the summer they have still obtained some good results."

Also Saturday, Real Madrid visits Atletico Madrid, Deportivo visits Getafe and Malaga visits Tenerife.

On Sunday, Valladolid hosts Xerez, Almeria hosts Osasuna, Sporting Gijon hosts Espanyol, Racing hosts Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla hosts Villarreal, and Valencia hosts Real Zaragoza.