Rio de Janeiro: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has expressed concern at the prospect of Barcelona's Champions League exit at the hands of Italian giants AC Milan. Barcelona will enter Tuesday's round-of-16 second leg at the Camp Nou needing to revert a 0-2 deficit from last month's first leg at the San Siro, reports Xinhua.
Speaking on the eve of the Laureus World Sports Awards here Sunday, Del Bosque admitted Tuesday's result could affect Spain's preparation for June's Confederations Cup in Brazil.
"On Tuesday and Wednesday there will be very important games for Barcelona and Malaga (against Porto)," Del Bosque said. "These results will have a significant impact on the national team because if Barcelona is eliminated the players' confidence will be hit."
"It's going to be difficult but I think they can do it. It's important that they progress like Real Madrid did against Manchester United because Barcelona is the base of our national team." Del Bosque will Friday announce his squad for Spain's World Cup qualifiers against Finland March 22 and France three days later.
He revealed his satisfaction at Spain's grip on the FIFA world No.1 ranking, ahead of Germany, Argentina, England and Italy. "It has been a six-year trajectory and is something that we are all very proud of," the 62-year-old said.
Del Bosque's side, which won the 2012 European Championship, will compete for the Laureus best team award with the Chinese men's table tennis outfit, Europe's Ryder Cup golf team, the NBA's Miami Heat and Formula One's Red Bull.
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