Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola admitted Barca’s La Liga title hopes were at the mercy of archrivals Real Madrid following the woeful 3-2 defeat at Osasuna on Feb. 11.
Barcelona / NationalTurk – The ‘ freezing ‘ loss of Barcelona against Osasuna left Real Madrid with a chance to open up a 10-point gap with a win against fading Levante and now that Real defeated Levante 4-2 at Bernabeu, 3 times in row defending La Liga champions Barcelona’s hopes for a 4th consecutive La Liga championship.
‘ Win the title? Well, we will try to defend our Champions League crown and then attempt to negotiate each match in La Liga,’ answered Pep Guardiola on a freezing night in Pamplona, when asked if he sees Barcelona’s chance of getting the 4th La Liga title in row as fading.
Barcelona 4th La Liga title in serious jeopardy, Real has the edge now
‘ We will see what happens. But we are a significant distance behind which I guess will increase on Sunday. The league will be more difficult for us now.’ the Barca coach added.
“In the second half tonight we did well on this pitch but we should have done better in the first half. It was hard for us to get into this game but we have to congratulate Osasuna.”
The reigning La Liga and Champions League winners have struggled on their away games this season with just four wins and succumbed to their second defeat.
A double from Dejan Lekic put Osasuna in a commanding position before the break and while Alexis Sanchez reduced the deficit after 50 minutes, a clinical finish from Raul Garcia restored the two-goal cushion.
Substitute youngster Cristian Tello hit Barça’s second and gace Barcelona a glimmer of hope and there were chances at either end in the final minuets but Osasuna held on to a significant victory at harsh wintry conditions.
Real Madrid rolls on with victories, Barca ‘the bane of Real’ 10 points behind
Real Madrid Levante 4-2 Highlights Video
[media id=488 width=610 height=340]While Barçelona struggles, Real Madrid continues to roll over its oppositions, having won now 19 of 22 games with a commanding 4-2 victory on La Liga 5th Levante, where Cristiano Ronaldo had completed a wonderful hat-trick capping his performance with a fantastic goal.In form forward Benzema also scored with a marvelous strike to give Real mardid now a safe 10 points lead in the La Liga title race.
Pep Guardiola continued to put his faith in youth against Osasuna and left Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas on the bench with possibly its midweek Champions League match with Bayer Leverkusen in mind.
Real Madrid eccentric manager Jose Mourinho, however, feels that the La liga title contest will not be decided imminently.
‘ February schedule is possibly more difficult for us than Barcelona as we take on Levante ( now crushed with 4 goals) , Racing [Santander] who are improving, Rayo (Vallecano), without doubt the surprise package in LA Liga this season, and then Espanyol, who are fighting for a place in Europe,’ the Portuguese manager, who has a soldiers hair cut now, stated.
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