“If we play like we did against Valencia we will win the league, I am certain of that”, said Pique, who will be suspended for the trip to Galicia after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season. “It will be hard because of where we will be playing and because of our opponent”.
Advertisement
The forward did score his 499th career goal in the meantime – a penalty for Argentina in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Bolivia on 30 March.
He completed a cross by Jordi Alba to keep his team’s hopes alive, but they couldn’t capitalise on their chances of equalising.
From being a one-horse race, it now looks like being a thrilling three-way fight for the title and Atletico’s striker Fernando Torres said his side are reaping the rewards for never giving up even when Barca were streaking ahead.
It is absolutely essential Barca pick up three points against Depor to guarantee retaining top spot, as if they lose it to Atleti or Real, they may not be able to regain it before the end of the season. “It’s part of football”. “You can win games without attacking and that happened today”.
Barca started brightly, but were repeatedly denied by fine saves from Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves.
The luck was in Valencia’s favour, but the desire was ours. We’ve been criticised, but we’ve continued working and fighting and now we’re just one point away.
Their sudden loss of form has also seen them crash out of the Champions League, but Enrique is confident that his side can turn things around.
It was the second win in a row for Valencia after four straight losses, moving the club further away from the relegation zone.
There are five games left in La Liga, with Barcelona’s run-in seeing them host struggling Sporting Gijon and city rivals Espanyol and go to both Betis and Granada. It was only the team’s third game under new coach Pako Ayestaran, who replaced the fired Gary Neville.
Meanwhile Madrid duo of Real and Atletico took full advantage of Barcelona’s dismal display as they routed Getafe 5-1 and Granada 3-0 respectively.
“I think we need five wins to win the title and if there is any team that is capable of doing that it’s Barcelona”, he said.
Advertisement
“In the last couple of games when they’ve been chasing goals, Pique has been going up front for the final five minutes”.
