as fc bate borisov prepare to face fc barcelona, midfielder filipp rudik made light of his side's tactical approach, joking: "we'll kick the ball out of play and hope for the best."
asked why he was so excited about his fc bate borisov side taking on fc barcelona in uefa champions league group h, midfielder filipp rudik was only half-joking when he replied: "because i have never met creatures from outer space before."
the european champions' brand of football has been so dazzling in recent seasons that josep guardiola's men might as well have come from another planet. their arrival in belarus, moreover, has been greeted with the level of awed excitement one might expect from a confirmed alien landing. the 39,600 tickets on sale for wednesday's match in minsk were sold out with five days to spare, with rudik himself having forked out for a few.
"it is what i really needed," said the 24-year-old, a winter signing from fc naftan novopolotsk. "i wanted to play against barcelona and luck was on my side in the draw. now my old team-mates from novopolotsk all owe me; i still haven't got any money from them, but that's ok because i have their tickets and they won't get into the ground without me."
playing against a team from a parallel footballing universe would daunt any side, yet if belarusian international rudik is terrified, he is using humour to deflect the worst of it. "we have already discussed our tactics," he joked. "we'll kick the ball out of play and hope for the best. let's see if we can get the ball into their half first." he added: "i promise it will be an interesting match. i won't say we will definitely win, but maybe barça will underestimate us. we'll see what we're capable of against such great opponents. it's a huge experience for us and we'll give it all we have got."
the magnitude of their dinamo stadion task might explain why bate failed to sparkle in their premier league fixture on friday, the leaders drawing 1-1 at fc belshina bobruisk. "we cannot be too down," said the st petersburg-born rudik. "we just started to conserve energy for the barcelona game a bit early."
bate will be sure to be at peak fitness for the blaugrana, although talk in the dressing room suggests some players may be saving an extra ounce of energy for the race to swap shirts with lionel messi. "i haven't decided who i want to swap with, but at least half of our lads want his shirt," said rudik. "it will be something new for me. i have never met big footballing stars. naftan played [kaa] gent in summer 2009 but maybe our shirts were so horrible that the belgian players refused to swap with us."
lionel messi struck twice as the uefa champions league holders sauntered to victory in minsk, meting full punishment for a series of defensive errors.
lionel messi struck twice as fc barcelona claimed their first away win of the season in some style against fc bate borisov.
josep guardiola's side had drawn their previous three games on their travels 2-2, but the run never looked likely to continue in this uefa champions league group h fixture. the home side only had themselves to blame for first-half goals from pedro rodríguez and messi after aleksandr volodko had put through his own net. they could do nothing about messi's second of the night, with david villa salting their wounds at the death.
on tuesday filipp rudik jokingly suggested bate would just have to "kick the ball out of play and hope for the best" but for much of the opening period the chance would have been a fine thing. the catalan giants set up camp deep in opposition territory, pitching the ball one way and then the other. supposedly part of a three-man defence, éric abidal and daniel alves rarely ventured into their own half.
alves was at the heart of the opener on 19 minutes as his deep cross was turned in by volodko, all too aware of the presence of messi on his shoulder. the bate right-back was not the only one harbouring culpability by half-time. three minutes later villa's teasing cross coaxed aleksandr gutor off his line, allowing pedro to head into an unguarded net as he peeled off maksim bordachev with ease.
it got worse seven before the break when gutor failed to hold a regulation villa cross and the ball fell to messi – the no10 rarely needs an invitation. goalkeeper gutor said his "soul was singing" after the 2-0 play-off win at sk sturm graz that took the belarusian title holders through to the group stage; it must have sounded like a dirge as he trudged off for half-time in drizzly minsk.
the mood darkened further 11 minutes after half-time when messi combined with alves on the right, superbly cushioning the return pass before lashing into the roof of the net from 15 metres. it was the 24-year-old's 194th competitive goal for the club, joining lászló kubala in second on barcelona's all-time list: only césar rodríguez (235) is ahead. how lone bate striker mateja kežman longed for such service.
he had none, even if the hosts did improve as barcelona took their foot of the pedal before villa got on the act after more lax defending late on. there is work to do before bate travel to ac milan on 18 october, when barcelona host fc viktoria plzeň.
1. ac milan...2...1...1...0...4...2...2...4 2. fc barcelona...2...1...1...0...7...2...5...4 3. fc bate borisov...2...0...1...1...1...6...-5...1 4. fc viktoria plzeň...2...0...1...1...1...3...-2...1
