Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino has insisted that his side will not abandon their usual playing style when they take on Atletico Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Atletico have been something of a surprise package in La Liga this season, currently leading the way by a point over Barca with just seven games remaining.
Tuesday's first leg at the Camp Nou will mark the fourth time that the two sides have met already this season, with each game so far ending in a draw, but Martino has insisted that they will stick to their usual game plan.
"The secret of the game will be to match Atletico in intensity so that they don't overcome us, and our biggest strength will be to play like Barca always do," Martino told reporters.
"If this team wasn't brave these boys wouldn't have been able to achieve everything they have done in the last few years, and this club wouldn't be where it is now. That requires bravery, and it's guaranteed, because very few teams play the same way we do. I can't imagine we'll spend the game running behind the ball, we can't forget that we are Barcelona.
"We will be careful we don't give the ball away and allow them to run into space on the counterattack. I don't think it will be an open game. We need to remember it's a two-legged tie played over 180 minutes. The last thing we need to do is play with desperation."
Atletico are bidding to progress past the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 1973-74, when they were beaten by Bayern Munich in the final.
Barney Corkhill
