Barcelona aim to rebound

BARCELONA, Spain (AP):

Barcelona look to close the gap on Spanish leaders Real Madrid and rebound from their first loss of the season when they host Rayo Vallecano today.

The defending champions will be bolstered by the return of Spain midfielders Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas.

Iniesta missed the past two games with a left thigh injury and Fabregas was rested as a precaution during Barcelona's 1-0 defeat at Getafe on Saturday. The return of the two playmakers almost brings Barcelona's squad back to full strength, with only Netherlands midfielder Ibrahim Afellay still sidelined.

The defending champion's first loss in 27 games dating back to last season left them six points adrift of Madrid.

The last time they trailed their fierce rivals by six points was during the 2007-08 season, just before coach Pep Guardiola took over and quickly made Barcelona the dominant force in Spanish and European football with a club record of 12 trophies.

Even so, Guardiola said yesterday that his team needs to stay focused on their own progress.

"The challenge isn't to cut Real Madrid's six-point lead but rather to represent this club and perform the best we can," Guardiola said. "We know that Madrid are going to be tough to beat, but we will give it our all until the very last day just like we have since the first."

Barcelona have struggled away from home this season, but the Catalan side is on an impressive run at Camp Nou stadium where they have won six of seven league games, outscoring their opponents 30-0.

While the rest of the Spanish league won't play until the weekend, Barcelona have had to reshuffle their schedule to make room for the upcoming Club World Cup.

After playing Levante on Saturday, Barcelona face BATE Borisov in the Champions League four days later, before visiting Madrid on December 10.

With the Spanish media already gearing up for that first 'clasico' of the season, Guardiola doesn't want his team to get caught looking beyond today.

"Madrid are putting maximum importance on each game because they haven't won this competition in a while," Guardiola said. "My idea of sport is to respect all adversaries. That is why I said that Getafe was a good team and why I say the same thing about Rayo."