Barcelona boss Luis Enrique pleased with options to replace injured stars

Luis Enrique says injuries will serve as no excuse if Barcelona fail to beat Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Barca are without Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Jeremy Mathieu and Andres Iniesta for the game at the Etihad Stadium, but the Asturian coach is happy with the options he has to replace them.

Having beaten City 4-0 at Camp Nou earlier this month, a fourth successive European win for the Blaugrana in England will seal their spot in the knockout stages of the competition.

"I don't think that's [injuries] an excuse, all teams have these moments during a season," Luis Enrique said in a news conference on Monday.

"You have to concentrate on the players you have available, I've said this for weeks. We have a great squad and we believe in all our players."

Rafinha, Arda Turan, Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes are the four players in contention to take the injured Iniesta's place in midfield, but Luis Enrique didn't give any clues as to which direction he's leaning.

He did, however, say he expects City coach Pep Guardiola to stick to his principles.

"I expect the same type of game as the previous one," he continued. "I don't think they can be more aggressive in terms of pressure because in the last game they pressed well.

"If they'd pressed any higher they'd have been in the stands. So I expect a similar script: two teams with similar objectives, making the pitch big, playing good football, pressing high ... If they leave spaces then we need to take advantage. They're [City and Barca's] identical philosophies."

City ended a streak of six games without a win by beating West Brom at the weekend as they continue to lead the way in the Premier League.

Questions were asked of Guardiola during that run, though, and a defeat against Barca on Tuesday could re-open the debate over the Catalan coach, who was criticised for refusing to change his style during that poor batch of form.

But for Luis Enrique, there is no debate: "We can be impressed with what Guardiola's done in three months at City.

"I love their philosophy, his ideas. He's had an impact in three months.

"They'll get better and better every month. The future for City is bright and they will get better and better with their ideas."