Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has called for his stars to be “stronger than ever” after a terrible run of form that has seen them crash out the Champions League and have their La Liga lead whittled down to three points.
The Catalans have lost three of their last four games after a 39-match unbeaten run stretching back six months was ended earlier this month.
However, they remain in control of their fate in La Liga as they would need to drop points in two of their last six games for Atletico Madrid or Real Madrid to snatch the title.
“When you are in a situation like this we are going to need a monumental effort. We need to be stronger than ever, we need to help each other, stay together in every area of the pitch and we will need the support of our fans,” Enrique said.
Barca face a Valencia side in search of revenge today after they were thrashed 7-0 on their last visit to the Camp Nou when Enrique’s men were flying back in February.
However, Enrique is counting on home advantage to carry Barca on a busy week of league action as they also travel to Deportivo la Coruna on Wednesday before hosting Sporting Gijon next Saturday.
“We aren’t in our best moment of the season, but that is part of the course of a season and we have to learn how to accept that against Valencia,” he added.
“We only have eyes for Valencia because that is the closest objective, but in a week we will play three league games, half of what is left.
“Two of those three are at home and I remain optimistic that, even though it is a situation that we don’t like, we can be league champions. It won’t be easy, but we never said it would be a walk in the park.”
Indeed, Barca could still become just the third side to win back-to-back doubles of league and Cup as they also face Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final on May 22.
“We have another difficult challenge ahead of us because very few teams in the history of Spanish football have won the league and Cup in two consecutive seasons,” the Barca coach said.
Despite the recent setbacks, Enrique said Barcelona were still the best side in La Liga. “There is no team that has been better than Barca. I wouldn’t swap with any other team in the league,” he asserted. “We haven’t gone into hiding. We said we were the favourites to win every competition, another thing is whether we deserve to win them.”
His focus is now on securing a La Liga-King’s Cup double. Barca have lost three of their last four matches since returning from the international break, before which they had gone 39 games undefeated in all competitions, but the coach did not offer an explanation for his team’s sudden slump.
“Everyone wants to talk about the negatives but, I’m sorry, for me it’s in the past,” he said. “It’s not down to one thing, there are an infinite number of factors that determine whether a team wins or loses. We have dealt with the defeat with the utmost dignity. It’s risky to make conclusions with six games and a cup final to play (against Sevilla next month).”
Enrique declined to say whether the club was planning to punish Dani Alves for posting an Instagram video after the defeat by Atletico where the defender imitated his girlfriend, wore a wig and said, “It’s only a football match, it doesn’t matter”.
“Our decision will be kept a secret, we don’t want to air our dirty laundry in public,” said the coach. “We all know Dani Alves and his activity on social media, we have seen him do everything. Each person can decide for themselves whether it’s opportune.”
Lionel Messi trained yesterday despite reports he has suffered muscular problems during a five-game scoreless streak. Neymar and Gerard Pique also overcame minor injuries to train, meaning Barca’s only change from the 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in midweek is likely to come in goal with Claudio Bravo replacing Marc-Andre ter Stegen.