Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino has insisted his team will abide by their usual attacking philosophy when they host Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie at the Nou Camp.
Tuesday's match will mark the fourth time the two teams have met this season, with each game so far ending in a draw.
Atletico are one point ahead of Barcelona at the top of the Primera Division and Martino recognised the strength of Diego Simeone's side, in particular the energy they bring to games, but believes his team will be best placed to qualify if they stick to their ideals.
"The secret of the game will be to match Atletico in intensity so that they don't overcome us, and our biggest strength will be to play like Barca always do," Martino told the pre-match press conference.
Asked whether Barca would be brave against Atletico, Martino said: "If this team wasn't brave these boys wouldn't have been able to achieve everything they have done in the last few years, and this club wouldn't be where it is now. That requires bravery, and it's guaranteed, because very few teams play the same way we do.
"I can't imagine we'll spend the game running behind the ball, we can't forget that we are Barcelona."
However, the coach admitted his team would be wary of Atletico's ferocity on the break.
"We will be careful we don't give the ball away and allow them to run into space on the counterattack," he said. "I don't think it will be an open game. We need to remember it's a two-legged tie played over 180 minutes. The last thing we need to do is play with desperation."
Martino's counterpart and compatriot Diego Simeone has long painted his team as the underdog this season even though his team lead Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top of Spain's Primera Division.
But Martino insisted he was not fooled by Simeone's discourse.
"The way Atletico play makes me think that he says something different to his players inside the dressing room to what he says outside it," the Barca coach added.
Barca have confirmed that goalkeeper Victor Valdes will be out for seven months after undergoing knee surgery in Germany and, with the player set to leave the club when his contract expires in June, has likely played his last competitive game for the Catalans. Captain Carles Puyol joins Valdes on the sidelines, while Alex Song and Pedro have been passed fit after recovering from light problems.
Meanwhile, Simeone believes his talismanic striker Diego Costa is as decisive for his team as Lionel Messi is to Barcelona, and he may find out just how vital he is one way or another on Tuesday.
Both camps have spoken highly of him but, after comparing him to Messi on Monday afternoon, Simeone then told the media: "The medics will evaluate his condition but I reckon it is unlikely that he'll play tomorrow."
Alarm bells were going off when Costa retired from Atletico's training session at the Nou Camp just five minutes after it had begun, accompanied by the club's physiotherapist and complaining of discomfort in his right thigh.
Costa was taken off towards the end of Atletico's 2-1 win at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday with a similar complaint. At the time, Simeone said: "If Costa is fit he'll play, if he is not, he won't."
It could all be a case of mind games ahead of a tie which sees Primera Division leaders Atletico play their first quarter-final tie since Simeone lined up for Atleti against Ajax in 1997.
Costa, who has scored 32 goals in 34 games across all competitions this season, is crucial to their hopes of beating Barcelona, who have made it to the semi-finals in each of the last six seasons.