Pitso salivating at having to see Spanish powerhouse live

MAMELODI Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has backed his charges to give FC Barcelona a run for their money when they meet at FNB Stadium tonight [6.15pm].

The Spanish giants arrived in the country this morning to play the Brazilians in a match which is part of the Nelson Mandela Centenary Celebrations.

SA’s first democratic president would have turned 100 this year.

He passed on in December 2013.

Barcelona are expected to take it easy with their coach Ernesto Valverde confirming that his star man, Lionel Messi, will play 45 minutes at most.

Mosimane, though, is still expecting the fivetime Uefa Champions League winners to show their quality.

In turn, he will be looking to his players to make it a competitive game for the 80 000 fans that are expected at the 2010 Fifa World Cup venue.

“You never know. Maybe we can rise to the occasion and give them a scare, but I must be honest with you I’m so excited for the game. I’m so happy to download the [Barca] games; show my players how they play,” Mosimane said ahead of the clash.

“And I want to see their faces how they are going to react when I show them that look, [Andres] Iniesta does this and [Jordi] Alba always overlaps on the left side and it’s a cut back to Messi and Messi scores. It’s a typical Barca game; the tikki takka.”

The former Bafana Bafana mentor said it would be “unbelievable” if Sundowns were to win, but he would just be happy to see the likes of Percy Tau take on Gerard Pique.

“If you measure them on speed, Percy will always come out [on top], but on experience Pique will come out, you know what I'm trying to say. So football is not about who's quicker; it's not a race. It's not a 100metre sprint where you know that one is faster and that one is going to win,” Mosimane added.

Barcelona will fly out straight after the game.