BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona and Arsenal both have to cope with injuries to key players in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 match, as the English side looks to protect it's 2-1 lead at the Camp Nou.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola will field a makeshift defense with center backs Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique missing for Tuesday's game. Counterpart Arsene Wenger has troubles at the other end, with main striker Robin van Persie and speedy winger Theo Walcott sidelined.
Wenger is confident of having Cesc Fabregas available for the Spain midfielder's return to the Camp Nou, while midfielder Jack Wilshire will also travel to Spain after recovering from an ankle injury. However, defensive midfielder Alex Song has been ruled out with a knee injury.
Barcelona is in better form, having won four straight games since its trip to north London, although the Spanish champion hasn't showed it's usual fluency of late.
Arsenal, meanwhile, has struggled to find its best form since it's comeback win over the Spanish club in the first leg. The Gunners lost 2-1 to Birmingham in the League Cup final, while Saturday's 0-0 draw against Sunderland kept it from going within one point of Premier League leader Manchester United.
While Wenger said his team will go for victory, Arsenal is likely to focus on clamping down on the Spanish champion's explosive attack, which will be looking to make up for missed opportunities from the first leg. Barcelona was leading and in control at the Emirates Stadium before Arsenal twice struck late to turn the game around.
With center back Thomas Vermaelen out, Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny are again tasked with taming Lionel Messi, David Villa and, likely, Pedro Rodriguez in attack. Koscielny's last-minute gaffe led to Birmingham's winner.
"We will look to defend well and attack well. We are not a team that will refuse to attack, we know that," Wenger said. "The challenge will be to find the right balance between having a team who can defend, as well as one that has a good opportunity, every time it has the ball, to go forward."
While Arsenal maintains it will do its part in the matchup of attack-minded teams Barcelona expects to do most of the pressing.
"They are not stupid. They have an advantage and they will try to protect that lead. They will come to defend," Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano said. "We can't make the mistake of thinking that, just because they know how to play attacking football, they don't know how to defend. The problem is that when they have the ball they will try to play football — because of the players and the coach they have."
Barcelona may extra keen to attack to help ease the pressure on its makeshift back four.
With Pique suspended, Puyol was expected to provide a big lift by returning from a knee injury to compensate for his Spain teammate's absence. But the captain's absence — Puyol hasn't played since Jan. 22 — means Eric Abidal stays in the center with defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets likely to pair up with him.
Puyol's absence could be a blow to the three-time European champions' confidence.
"His character makes him the soul of this team," fullback Daniel Alves said. "But with the quality we have we'll try to miss him a little less. But his qualities make him irreplaceable."
Barcelona's qualities are well-known — especially to Arsenal. Last year, Messi scored all four goals in a 4-1 win that knocked the English side out of the competition.
"To score four goals is crazy," the Argentina forward told El Mundo newspaper when looking back on last year's quarterfinals performance. "Now I'm not thinking about that. I think about scoring once, at the least, which will get us through. Or none if we get through."
Guardiola will train the team on Monday before spending another night in hospital for treatment on a herniated disc. The 40-year-old coach is expected to be on the sidelines Tuesday despite continual treatment for the lower back problem.