No Shevchenko rift: Puyol

Spain defender Carles Puyol insists there is no bad blood between himself and Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko.

The pair are likely to come into close contact on Wednesday when the eastern Europeans make their World Cup debut at the Zentralstadion in Leipzig, although Shevchenko, Chelsea’s £30m (€44m) capture from AC Milan, will have to pass a fitness test on a knee problem if he is to take part.

When the pair last met on the pitch, in April, there was even more at stake as Barcelona and Milan were fighting for a place in the Champions League final.

Barcelona led 1-0 from the first leg but in the return at the Nou Camp Shevchenko thought he had cancelled out that advantage – only to be penalised for a foul on Puyol he insists never happened.

The Catalans went on to lift the trophy, at Arsenal’s expense, and Shevchenko refused to talk about Puyol in the build-up to the Spain game.

Puyol insisted: “We both have our own interests but there is no problem between us. I'm not sure if he is 100% but even if he is not he is a very dangerous player and I will have to take care.”

Spain are set to start with a strikeforce of Fernando Torres, the 22-year-old from Atletico Madrid who is constantly being linked with a switch to the Premiership, and Valencia’s David Villa, who netted 25 times last season.

That has pushed Raul out of the picture but given the Real Madrid striker only managed five goals in the same period and has often been struggling with his fitness, the 29-year-old can have no complaints.

And to his credit, the player made that clear himself as well, insisting coach Luis Aragones had every right to put him on the bench.

Raul said: “I’m not in the team but it doesn’t affect me that much because it is the team that is the most important. The coach has picked his 11 players and that’s it.

“I wasn’t surprised. It is a very difficult game and I accept the decision. The trainer did not have a special word with me about it. I speak to him every day but he did not say anything different to me than any of the other players.”

Aragones, who hit headlines for all the wrong reasons two years ago for making racist remarks about Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry, has a number of Premiership players to pick from.

They include Liverpool trio Jose Reina, Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia and Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas and Jose Antonio Reyes – but not Chelsea’s Asier del Horno, who was ruled out of the World Cup due to injury.