La Liga: Barcelona confident despite lead slipping to seven points

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 …read more