Football | La Liga | Barcelona look to close Real gap

Friday 17th February 2012

Barcelona look to close Real gap

Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes believes a good Champions League run could be the catalyst to a La Liga fightback.

The reigning champions were dealt a further blow to their title hopes last weekend against Osasuna, losing 3-2 at Estadio Reyno de Navarra.

Barcelona now lie 13 points behind league leaders Real Madrid, who won on Saturday, with many predicting the title is now beyond them.

The Catalans face a tough clash against third-placed Valencia this weekend and come into the game off the back of an impressive Champions League win at Bayer Leverkusen.

Barcelona put one foot in the quarter-finals with their 3-1 midweek victory and Valdes believes the competition could help them in the La Liga.

"Doing so well in Germany keeps us alive in the competition," he told the club's official website, www.fcbarcelona.com.

"This is something very important for us and at the same time it provided inspiration for the league.

"The Champions League will affect what happens in the league.

"If we look at how the season has gone, there's no denying that we haven't been getting the away results we'd hoped for.

"But we have to keep at it. We won't let our heads drop. We have to keep believing and fighting."

Barcelona come into the match amid speculation regarding defender Gerard Pique.

The Spain international was left out of the midweek trip to Germany, which manager Pep Guardiola insists was only with Valencia in mind.

Valdes too was keen to downplay Pique's absence at the BayArena, adding: "There's no need to go on about that. He's the best centre-back in the world and he's always shown that.

"It was just the manager's decision the other day. I haven't noticed any change in him. He's working harder than ever and is enthusiastic about things".

Pique will have to be on top form this weekend to keep Valencia from snatching victory at the Nou Camp.

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Fourth-placed Levante will look to continue their incredible season when Rayo Vallecano visit Ciutat de Valencia, while bottom-placed Real Zaragoza host Real Betis on Monday.

In the other games this weekend, Granada face Real Sociedad on Sunday, while Malaga travel to Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca face struggling Villarreal.

Saturday

Real Madrid opened up a 13-point gap over arch-rivals Barcelona at the top of La Liga by easing to a 4-0 victory over 10-man Racing Santander.

Cristiano Ronaldo headed Madrid into an early lead before Racing had defender Domingo Cisma sent off just before half-time for a second yellow card. Karim Benzema hit a brace and Angel Di Maria added another to set the seal on a 20th win in 23 league matches this season for Jose Mourinho's side.

The victory further extended Madrid's advantage over three-time reigning champions Barcelona, who play Valencia at the Nou Camp on Sunday.

Sevilla claimed their first league win of 2012 in new coach Michel's home debut after seeing off Osasuna 2-0 in a hard-fought encounter at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Getafe and Espanyol shared the spoils after an entertaining 1-1 draw.