Barcelona want to seal qualification against Spartak, says Zubizarreta

Nov 19, 2012 8:30:00 AM

The Blaugrana want to book their ticket for the knockout stages with a win over the Russian outfit after failing to do so against Celtic two weeks ago

Barcelona are determined to seal qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League by beating Spartak Moscow on Tuesday, but they realise that the Russian giants will not be pushovers.

The Catalans were beaten 2-1 by Celtic in their last Champions League match, and Andoni Zubizarreta has insisted that they want to get back to winning ways against Spartak.

"Our goal is to qualify for the next round as soon as possible. We must win on Tuesday for that to happen," Zubizarreta was quoted as saying on the Barcelona website.

"We weren’t able to clinch qualification in Glasgow, but we are hopeful that we can do it in Moscow. We’re aware of how difficult the match will be because Spartak are running out of options to get to the next round."

The club's director of football then went on to discuss Lionel Messi's form and hailed the Argentine's contribution to the team.

He added: "He doesn’t play to break individual records. What he wants is to win with the team and contribute to the group with his work."

Messi has netted 22 goals in 18 official appearances for Barcelona this season.

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