Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino said his team could be
out of the La Liga title race should they lose at Real Madrid on Sunday.
The champions trail their rivals by four points heading
into the El Clasico at the Bernabeu, with Atletico Madrid sandwiched between
the two sides three points behind Carlo Ancelotti's league leaders.
With just 10 fixtures remaining in the domestic season,
Martino feels it is now or never for Barcelona.
"This is probably our last opportunity to keep
ourselves in the fight for the title," Martino said on Saturday.
"After this game there will be nine (matches to
play), and it's not the same as closing up on a one point gap than four or
seven is.
"At this stage, teams - mainly the ones playing for
the title - do not normally make mistakes."
Martino identified Real's consistency as the defining
factor in their rise to the top of the table, and not any difference in quality
between the top two in the Spanish top flight.
"Both sides face this Clasico knowing perfectly well
what they have to do," he said.
"The only difference up until now is that Real
Madrid have been consistent since the last Clasico and we haven't.
"The quality of both teams is clear. The thing is we
haven't been as consistent as them so that made us drop points and therefore
drop down the table. But this is not a matter of quality at all."
Martino also said he had no qualms about letting Brazilian
starlet Neymar know how good he was, ahead of Barca's visit to the Bernabeu.
"Neymar was great against Manchester City, and
secondly I will reaffirm what I've said plenty of times - he's amongst the five
best footballers in the world," he said.
"I don't need one game or half of it, not even 10
(minutes), to believe his qualities. So within my powers, I'll try to make him
not think that he's just one more player in the squad because he's not."
Culled from Soccerway
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