Spartak Moscow midfielder Dmitry Kombarov has called upon his teammates to stay cool in the presence of Spanish giants Barcelona and neutralize Lionel Messi for their Champions League opener on Wednesday.
The Russians kick off their Group G campaign against at the Camp Nou, and the gifted left-footer says his side will be anything but star-struck on the same pitch as Messi and company.
"The most important thing is not to let the opponent scare you, and follow the coach's tactics to the end," said the 25-year-old Russia international in comments to Spartak's website.
"We can't have anyone giving them an easy time, we must fight to the end from the first second. Personally, I'm totally calm and don't feel any nerves: the big names don't scare me, they mobilize me."
The four-time European champions are without talismanic captain Carles Puyol and UEFA Best Player of Europe Andres Iniesta for Wednesday's clash, and sweat on the fitness of Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez.
But it is the two-time FIFA Ballon d'Or winner Messi that has Unai Emery's team concerned, Kombarov said.
"We must try to exclude him from the game, as far as that's possible. We need to stay tight to Barca all over the pitch and win the individual battles. That's the recipe," he said.
Spartak go into Wednesday's game missing suspended midfielder Demy de Zeeuw, and defenders Nicolas Pareja and Sergei Parshivlyuk, who are both injured.
