Barcelona's season is threatening to implode with Wednesday's King's Cup final against Real Madrid looming after a nightmare week when they were knocked out of Europe and lost 1-0 at lowly Granada in La Liga.
Saturday's defeat at Granada means La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, who were also responsible for Barcelona's Champions League elimination on Wednesday, can pull four points clear of the Catalan giants with a win at Getafe on Sunday.
Real climbed above Barcelona into second with Saturday's 4-0 stroll at home to Almeria to move level on 79 points with Atletico and will be licking their lips at the prospect of playing their wounded arch-rivals in the Cup final in Valencia.
Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino needs to lift his battered troops for the showpiece at the Mestalla, the venue where Real Madrid beat Barca 1-0 in the 2011 final thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's headed goal in extra time.
Argentine Martino, in his first season in charge at the Nou Camp, pledged he and his players would fight to the end.
"After these two defeats the players have the sense that something very significant has slipped through their fingers," he told a news conference on Saturday.
"Wednesday's match is a final and we have to try to go and win it in a way that does the match justice. It would be wrong to confuse feelings of sadness with throwing in the towel. We will only do that when mathematics tell us that we no longer have a chance," he added.
Martino had to shuffle his defence at Granada because three of his centre backs, Gerard Pique, captain Carles Puyol and Marc Bartra, are injured.
Sergio Busquets played alongside fellow converted midfielder Javier Mascherano at centre back and the makeshift pairing will have their work cut out on Wednesday if they are deployed against Real's formidable attack.
One ray of hope for Barca is that Real's top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo looks likely to miss the final after picking up knee and thigh muscle problems in his left leg.
Comments
0 comment