Ivan Rakitic said winning the Champions League is “like a drug” for Barcelona and wishes he could give Gigi Buffon a World Cup swansong.
It kicks off on Wednesday at 19.45 GMT and follows on from the 3-0 Blaugrana victory at Camp Nou in September.
“Considering the club we are, every game is important and, as much as we care about the competition, the idea tomorrow is to do what we need to do. “
It remains to be seen whether Barcelona will go for the victory in Turin or settle for a point each.
Ivan Rakitic said winning the Champions League is “like a drug” for Barcelona and wishes he could give Gigi Buffon a World Cup swansong.
It kicks off on Wednesday at 19.45 GMT and follows on from the 3-0 Blaugrana victory at Camp Nou in September.
“Considering the club we are, every game is important and, as much as we care about the competition, the idea tomorrow is to do what we need to do. “
It remains to be seen whether Barcelona will go for the victory in Turin or settle for a point each.
“We realise that we play every two or three days and it’s hard to be at our best physically, but we must have the confidence in ourselves to face this and the following games in the right way.
“We’re well aware that in football every match is a new opportunity and we’re playing in a spectacular stadium with the opportunity to win.
“I think we’re going pretty well this season and had a long run of good results with difficult obstacles we’ve overcome. We’ll see what happens, but undoubtedly we want to target every trophy and to do that need to take it one game at a time.
“Winning the Champions League is like a drug, it makes you want to do it again and again and again. It’s a positive pressure that makes us want to lift the trophy once more and to do it while enjoying your football with your teammates is the ultimate.”
Juventus are fresh from a 3-2 Serie A defeat to Sampdoria, so will they be more motivated or concerned?
“With all due respect to Juve, we have prepared well for this game. Last season they earned the chance to play in the Champions League Final and went close to winning it. I sincerely doubt a couple of defeats in Serie A this season means they are a different or weaker squad.”
The Blaugrana have been transformed under new Coach Ernesto Valverde, needing more solidity after their Champions League semi-final 3-0 defeat to Juventus last term.
“It was not a fluke that we lost to Paris Saint-Germain and again in Turin last season. When we play at our tempo and in our style, we are difficult to break down. We want to continue our current form.
“Our opponents are always more aggressive against us and raise their game, while with Neymar’s departure our style has changed a little bit and we have less room to move. We can improve in many different aspects and it’s not easy when changing Coach and several players.
“We have changed compared to last season, we are a more united group and nobody likes to face Barcelona.”
Many of the Juve players, such as Gigi Buffon and Andrea Barzagli, missed out on the World Cup after Italy lost the play-off to Sweden.
“I feel like telling Buffon to go in my place, as what he’s done for football is incredible, simply unique. When a child writes out his ideal line-up, Buffon will be in there. I can’t explain what it’s like to see him at the end of a game in that shape and to stand next to him.
“It’s really a shame he isn’t able to finish his career with participation in a sixth World Cup and I’d honestly love to give him that chance. It’s difficult to stay out of a tournament like that, but I believe in life sometimes you need to take a step back to take three steps forward.”