Barcelona’s under-fire stars have closed ranks to insist that their spectacular nosedive in form is simply a matter of bad luck.
The Catalan giants suffered a 2-1 home loss to Valencia on Sunday night, meaning they have lost their last three league encounters to surrender their lead at the top of the table, as well as being knocked out of the Champions League.
Barca are now level with second-placed Atletico Madrid and just one point clear of Real Madrid, re-opening the seemingly dead La Liga title race in dramatic fashion.
And although Luis Enrique’s side are still leaders thanks to their head-to-head advantage over both Madrid clubs, they know that they have to win their five remaining games – starting at Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday night – to keep their fate in their own hands.
But defender Gerard Pique, who squandered a golden late opportunity to claim a point against Valencia by blazing wide from close range, was keen to assert his belief things will soon change.
“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.
“Football is football – so wonderful but sometimes so cruel. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t want to go in the net and on a normal day we would have won 4-1. We have no more margin for error now and it’s a fantastic challenge to find out title-winning form again.”
Schedule: Remaining Liga games Barcelona, Atletico and Real Madrid #fcblive [md] pic.twitter.com/WibsRTHEpe
— barcastuff (@barcastuff) April 18, 2016
Those sentiments were echoed by midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who was just as keen as Pique to push the narrative that the Blaugrana have simply been the victims of misfortune during their latest setback.
The Croatian international was also prepared to overlook the fact that Valencia had several dangerous attacks during the course of Sunday’s game, including a glorious late chance for striker Paco Alcacer, as he said: “They only attacked us twice, but they scored two goals.
“That’s football. The luck ended up favouring Valencia. The desire was there and we created lots of chances, but the ball simply didn’t want to go in.”
Enrique has been criticised for failing to use a single substitute against Valencia, but Rakitic believes there is no need to change the way the team plays.
“We don’t have any doubts about our system,” he added. “Our form hasn’t been good and we have to change that, but we have to stay together to win La Liga. Our desire has been spectacular but we now need to get together and win all the matches remaining.”
