Barcelona confident despite lead slipping to seven points

BARCELONA (Reuters): After Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu in December, it looked like nobody could stop them on their charge to the title.

The Catalans are still unbeaten in the league this season but after consecutive draws against Espanyol last weekend and Getafe on Sunday, their stranglehold on the title has slipped.

Atletico Madrid beat Malaga 1-0 on Saturday to cut down Barcelona’s lead and after Ernesto Valverde’s side failed to find the breakthrough in the 0-0 draw against Getafe, only seven points divides the top two.

Atletico have the chance to cut that down further when they head to the Nou Camp on March 4, in a game that will likely be decisive in the title race.

With testing ties against Chelsea in the Champions League last-16 to come, as well as the King’s Cup final, Barcelona’s schedule is tricky to manage.

Against Getafe they were reduced to pairing new signing Yerry Mina alongside left back Lucas Digne in the centre of defence, although the duo did well to keep the visitors at bay.

However, the message from Barcelona is that they are not panicking. “These are the busy months of the season and we’re obliged to do well in all three competitions,” said captain Andres Iniesta.

“There’s wear and tear and you always try to make sure these things like today don’t happen, but at the end of the day they do happen.” Barcelona have a rare midweek off before a tricky away fixture on Saturday at in-form Eibar, who rose to seventh in the table after a win at Leganes, while Atletico Madrid face FC Copenhagen away in the Europa League on Thursday and then host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

The club’s director of institutional relations, Guillermo Amor, says Barcelona are comfortable with their seven-point cushion. “Seven points is a good gap and Atletico have to come here to play us. There’s a lot of points to go and we have to be positive,” said Amor. “We did enough to win but we have to recall that Getafe played well too. They played with determination, worked well and created danger on the counter. For that we have to congratulate Getafe.”

Real’s Ronaldo hits top form ahead of season-defining PSG clash

BARCELONA (Reuters): Real Madrid face Paris St Germain on Wednesday in the Champions League and it could be a match which defines their season.

Although third-placed Madrid crushed Real Sociedad 5-2 on Saturday at the Bernabeu, they still trail leaders Barcelona by 16 points and have no hope of defending their league title.

Coach Zinedine Zidane’s future could depend on a good result in the last-16 first leg and the coach was relieved to see Cristiano Ronaldo hit his best form against Real Sociedad.

The Portuguese forward scored a hat-trick to reach seven league goals in his last four matches, turning his form around after a troubled start to the season.

Ronaldo netted four goals in his first 14 league matches, his poor form one of the reasons Barcelona were able to leave Madrid in the wake during the first half of the season.

“We are happy (with Ronaldo),” Zidane told reporters. “On Friday they asked me if I was worried about him not scoring goals and he scored three.”

Last season Ronaldo converted into a centre-forward in a classic No. 9 mould from his previous role as a winger, helping the side retain the Champions League by scoring crucial hat-tricks against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid as well as a brace in the final against Juventus.

He was back to his clinical best against Real Sociedad after missing chances last weekend in a 2-2 draw against Levante, putting the final touch on an excellent team move in the first half and heading home from a corner. Ronaldo’s third goal exhibited his pure poacher’s instinct, alert to fire home the rebound after Gareth Bale’s shot was blocked by Geronimo Rulli.

As Ronaldo excelled, French striker Karim Benzema failed to break a league scoring drought which now stands at seven games and some supporters at the Bernabeu whistled him.

“I don’t know why they are doing it,” said Zidane. “They can do what they want. Karim had chances but for him the most important thing is the next game and changing his run.”