They don’t even have to beat Barcelona to scupper Enrique’s chances, with Barcelona level on points with Atletico Madrid and just one point ahead of Real Madrid, even a point would drop Barcelona to third in the title picture.
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The sides met three times within the space of two weeks in January as Barca had to settle for a scoreless draw in La Liga, before knocking Espanyol out of the Copa del Rey.
Jordi Alba says Barcelona are not afraid of another dismal derby with Espanyol costing them the Liga title.
Espanyol ended a run of five games without a victory with a hugely important 1-0 win over Sevilla last week, a result which leaves them five points clear of the relegation zone with two games to play.
Barcelona will this weekend welcome the visit of Espanyol to the Nou Camp, with the hosts looking to put one hand on the La Liga title with a win.
Substitute Rafinha capitalized on awful mistake from Espanyol keeper Pau Lopez to add a fourth before Neymar added a fith to rub salt into Espanyol’s wounds after turning Suarez’s cross into an empty goal.
With the La Liga season coming down to the wire, Barcelona will need to ensure three points here so as to keep Diego Simeone and Zinedine Zidane’s sides at bay. Barca will be without goalkeeper Claudio Bravo due to a calf injury allowing Marc Andre ter Stegen, who usually only plays in cup competitions, to see out the league campaign.
Luis Enrique’s team have topped the Primera Division table since the start of the year, something Real Madrid haven’t managed to do since October.
“I never imagined that I would be scoring goals here”, he told ESPN.
“They are different games”.
“There’s always more tension in these games than normal but I hope we focus on the football and that the tension is secondary, but we know it exists”.
“I want us to be better than Espanyol and deserve to win, that’s all I’m anxious about”, he said.
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Espanyol top-scorer Felipe Caicedo (Achilles) is a major doubt for the visitors, while Alvarez Gonzalez and Oscar Duarte are both banned.
