Barcelona
FC Barcelona players attend a practice session in Prague. REUTERS

Pep Guardiola will be hoping to celebrate his 200th game in charge of Barcelona with victory away at Czech champions Plzeň Tuesday night.

The European champions are currently second in Group H, level on points with AC Milan, and a win can secure them qualification for the last-16 of the Champions League.

However, Guardiola expects a tough game against the Czech side despite having beaten them 2-0 in their home meeting last month.

"A win would mean a place in the round of 16 and we would have nothing to worry about until February," he said. "It would also mean the pressure would be off and we visit Milan so we could give some other players a chance to impress and focus for a while on the league and the Copa del Rey.

"[Plzeň] are a strong, fast team; they defended very well against us. It is easier once you have played against each other, but our most important task for tomorrow is to adapt our tactics to how Plzen defend.

"We want to get at least a point. We have a good home record. We want to win at home, although we are aware that in this case it will be extremely hard. However, we want to show more than we did in Barcelona where we did not manage a single attempt on goal."

Tuesday's game marks Guardiola's 200th in charge of Barcelona and the Spaniard admitted he was surprised to have lasted four years in the job.

"I am proud to have been here so long. I am proud to have trained these players, from the first to the last. They have made me better as a manager," he added.

"When you win 12 titles out of 15, it's because you haven't lost many games... I did not expect to be Barcelona coach for such a long time.

"Not everything has been perfect during these four years, but we have won lots of trophies together, and that speaks for itself."

Team News

Guardiola is without Pedro for the trip to Prague, after the striker injured his ankle against Granada, while Ibrahim Afellay is also side-lined with knree ligament damage.

Defenders Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol both came through Saturday's 5-0 win over Mallorca unscathed and are expected to start this evening.

Xavi is unlikely to be risked after recently returning from a calf problem.

Plzeň goalkeeper Marek Cech has not featured since he injured his knee in the return tie at the Nou Camp last month so Roman Pavlik is expected to play after recovering from knee ligament damage.

Plzeň probable XI: Pavlik; Rajtoral, Cisovsky, Bystron, Limbersky; Petrzela, Horvath, Jiracek, Kolar; Duris, Bakos.

Barcelona probable XI: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal; Thiago, Mascherano, Keita; Fabregas, Deulofeu, Messi.