The reigning Spanish champions were nine points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of the table at the start of this month, but consecutive defeats against Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Valencia have wiped that out.
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If Benzema had his way, someone he has a great personal and professional relationship, he would be the one we should keep in place long-term.
Third-placed Real Madrid are also only a point behind thanks to their 5-1 win at Getafe on Saturday. “If there’s one team that’s capable of picking itself up, it’s this Barcelona team”.
Atletico will be without suspended captain Gabi for their trip to Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, while Pique is banned for Barca’s visit to Deportivo La Coruna.
“I’m convinced we’re going to win the league, if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be sat here”, he told a news conference on Tuesday.
The Brazilian has scored 27 goals for Barca this season, but his alarming dip in form has coincided with a his team’s run of four games without a win in the league.
They suffered a scare on Wednesday, too, as Ronaldo limped off injured in stoppage time, although Zidane said: “I don’t think it’s serious”.
“We know it will be hard to win in Depor, but we must play the same as we played today”, he said.
“Our margin for error has run out and we are aware of the challenge”, he said, denying that fatigue has been a factor.
‘Outdoing ourselves is the first step, an objective was to surpass our performance last season and we are on our way to doing that’.
We played great, we didn’t deserve to lose, but sometimes football is cruel like this. The players have given a lesson in the second half of how to face a situation like this.
“It is evident that we are lacking luck, it won’t surprise anyone that has watched the game”, added Enrique, whose side exited the Champions League in midweek.
Neymar has now gone five games without a goal or an assist for Barca, and apparently clashed after the final whistle with Los Che right-back Antonio Barragan, but Luis Enrique knocked back a suggestion the Brazilian had lost focus due to off-field issues. We can’t win every single game by playing anyway we want, we have to have order and we have to be organized.
Here, we take a closer look at how the Argentina forward reached the landmark for club and country.
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ESPN FC’s Sid Lowe gives his take on Barcelona’s La Liga troubles as they’ve gotten just one point from a possible twelve.
