Bayern Munich defender Medhi Benatia says he will not be awestruck by facing Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.
Benatia, 28, joined Bayern from AS Roma last summer but like several of his teammates has struggled with injuries during the season, only recently returning from a three-week layoff. But he is in contention to face the La Liga leaders in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal.
He returned to action last week in the DFB Pokal loss to Borussia Dortmund, and on Saturday played 28 minutes in the 2-0 defeat at Leverkusen. Benatia told kicker he has now shown he is ready to start against Barca.
"I trust Pep," he said. "And I know that he was the one who brought me to Bayern. I don't have any problems with him, quite the opposite. That he played me [against Dortmund] after only two training sessions with the team delights me."
Should the defender be chosen ahead of Dante and Javi Martinez, with Jerome Boateng a guaranteed starter for Bayern Munich, he is ready to face Barca's superstar strike force.
"I have played against Suarez in Europa League when I was still at Udinese and he played at Liverpool," he added. "I have never played against Messi and Neymar, but there is a first time for everything.
"Personally, I respect them, but that doesn't apply for the 90 minutes on the pitch. There will be no respect."
Bayern take on a side that demolished Cordoba 8-0 at the weekend on the back of the two straight defeats. Speaking to reporters at the weekend, the club's sporting executive Matthias Sammer put things into perspective.
"With all due respect, Barcelona achieved this result against the bottom club," Sammer said. "We have all respect for Barcelona and their world class players, but we also have a few World Cup winners in our ranks, that's why we won't belittle ourselves.
"Barcelona are in very good form right now, and are maybe minimal favourites. We know we have to go to the limits twice. We are FC Bayern Munich. And our goal is to play the final in Berlin."
Thomas Muller, who was rested at Leverkusen, echoed Sammer's words, when telling the club's official website that while they "are quite aware that Barcelona are one of the best teams in the world," Bayern remain "optimistic" and will not travel to Spain without a chance.