VILANOVA STILL CONFIDENT

The Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova has said that he remains confident about getting the results and the keeping a tight defence in the upcoming matches even without the Argentine Javier Mascherano. The former Liverpool midfielder is currently suspended and he only adds to the injury troubles for the new Barcelona manager. He already has two cope with the lack of Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique in the centre of defence.

Even though the Argentine is primarily a midfielder, he has become used to playing in the central defence for Barcelona in the last two seasons. Vilanova conceded that the absence of the defender will be a huge miss, but the presence of players like Sergio Busquets and Alex Song will help him tide over the crisis. Both Sergio Busquets and Alex Song are defensive midfielders, but they could carry out the task of playing in the central defence because of the Barcelona style of play.

Tito Vilanova has also said that he has faith in the youngster Marc Bartra, who could be in the starting line-up for the Copa del Rey match in the midweek. Mascherano is currently out of the match against Rayo Vallecano during the weekend as a result of the red card he got in the match against Deportivo la Coruna. The 5-4 victory was one of the most exciting matches in recent times, but Barcelona came out of the encounter with a red card for their defender.

"It is not ideal to have so many people missing in the one position, but the people who have come in have done well. Against Celtic (Bartra) played a good game and before the game I told him he would play a good game. If he is in the first team squad it is because I decided it. We need to judge Dani over the long term. He has had some physical issues and has not been able to perform at the level we know he can," said Vilanova.