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Schalke down but not yet out, says Touré

Yaya Touré is convinced FC Barcelona can prevent an English club winning the UEFA Champions League, but is wary of the danger FC Schalke 04 offer tomorrow.

Yaya Touré (left) vies with Kevin Kuranyi in Gelsenkirchen
Yaya Touré (left) vies with Kevin Kuranyi in Gelsenkirchen ©Getty Images

Yaya Touré is convinced FC Barcelona can prevent the UEFA Champions League trophy falling into the hands of an English club, but urged his team-mates to focus on Wednesday's quarter-final second leg against FC Schalke 04 before turning their attentions to a potential duel with Manchester United FC in the last four.

'Professional performance'
With the Catalan club winning 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen and United emerging 2-0 victors at AS Roma last week, talk of a mouthwatering semi-final between two of Europe's most prestigious clubs has been gathering pace. Touré, however, is reluctant to look beyond the visit of Mirko Slomka's side to Camp Nou. "Nothing has been decided yet because Schalke are capable of coming back," the Ivory Coast midfielder told uefa.com. "We produced a professional performance [in Germany] and got a great result but we'll need to concentrate just as hard again if we want to qualify."

Trophy trail
Having failed to close the seven-point gap on Real Madrid CF in the Primera División at the weekend, the UEFA Champions League represents arguably Barcelona's best chance of silverware, and Touré said: "We have so many quality players and we play good football, now we have to make sure we win something. When you think about the potential we have, it'd be a real waste if we ended the season empty-handed."

English threat
Lionel Messi, Deco and Ronaldinho have all been injured in recent weeks, and while the Brazilian international faces several more weeks on the sidelines, Barcelona should be able to call on the other two if they reach the semi-finals, where as many as three English clubs could be waiting. "The English teams are looking formidable and United are particularly strong at the moment," the former AS Monaco FC player said. "They have a very complete team, whereas we've been missing important players. But once we get our top players back I think we have a team that can go all the way."

Eto'o optimism
Touré's belief that Barça can clinch Europe's top club prize for the second time in three years is shared by his colleagues, with Samuel Eto'o also expressing cautious optimism. "This [1-0 win at Schalke] is a great result and it's given us belief," the Cameroon striker told uefa.com. "We played like the home team during the first half in Schalke and deserved our lead. Everything's still open, though, so we'll need to work really hard. But I think we have a great chance of going to the semi-finals."