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One point to go for title-chasing Barca

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-10 08:01

Barcelona's Andres Iniesta celebrates his goal against Espanyol during their Spanish first division match at Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona on Sunday. [Photo/Agencies]

MADRID - Barcelona can wrap up a third successive Spanish league title with a point at Levante on Wednesday and then concentrate on its blockbuster Champions League final against Manchester United.

Barcelona defeated derby rival Espanyol 2-0 on Sunday to take a giant step towards the championship and with a better head-to-head record over closest rival Real Madrid, a draw with Levante will be enough.

"We knew we couldn't fail and now we only need a point to secure the title," said Barcelona's Spanish international midfielder Andres Iniesta. "We are very close now and the sooner we can win the title the better.

"We can't relax, however, because there is the Champions League final to play."

Barcelona would become the first side to win three consecutive league crowns since 1993 and coach Pep Guardiola will be keen to wrap up the title to rest his weary stars ahead of the Champions League final against United on May 28.

If Barcelona wins its remaining three fixtures it would notch a league record 100 points for the season, bettering the best-ever mark of 99 points it set last season.

Real, eight points behind in second, appears to have given up hope in the title race but will not want to gift the championship to Barcelona.

On Tuesday, Madrid entertains derby neighbor Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu where anything less than victory will hand its bitter rival the trophy.

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo scored four times in Real's 6-2 thumping of Sevilla at the weekend and is now on 33 league goals for the season.

Ronaldo tops the goalscoring charts, two goals ahead of Barcelona's Lionel Messi, and is the favorite to win the Pichichi crown for the league's top scorer.

"The longer Barcelona need to win the league the better," said Ronaldo. "We have to win all our final remaining games without thinking about Barcelona. I don't want to think about the Pichichi title as there are three games left."

Getafe is just two points above the drop zone with nine points left to play for and coach Michel, who spent 14 glorious years as a Real player, hopes to cause an upset.

"The game against Osasuna (next weekend) is a match against a direct rival but we are not ruling out pulling off a surprise at the Bernabeu," said Michel.

Sevilla is in sixth, occupying the final Europa League spot, but has Atletico Madrid level on points in seventh spot.

Athletic Bilbao is fifth, two points above Sevilla, after a terrific campaign and hopes to take another step towards Europe with a win at Deportivo La Coruna on Tuesday.

Depor, league champion in 2000, is just one point above the bottom three after a turbulent season.

Promoted Hercules host Real Mallorca on Wednesday needing a minor miracle to stay in the Spanish top-flight.

Hercules, 2-0 winners at Barcelona earlier in the season, is six points from safety and needs to pick up points quickly to have any chance of beating the drop.

In other matches, Valencia travels to Espanyol on Wednesday trying to wrap up third place and the automatic Champions League spot.

"We have to complete all our hard work by finishing third and going straight into the Champions League," said Valencia winger Juan Mata. "Villarreal won't make it easy for us so we have to keep on collecting points."

Valencia lies five points ahead of fourth-placed Villarreal who travels to already-relegated Almeria on Wednesday.

Guardiola backs Messi

Guardiola also on Sunday backed magical Messi to beat Real Madrid rival Ronaldo to the Spanish League top scorer's prize.

"Messi is always looking to score because he is a born striker and it's in his blood," said Guardiola, whose Argentine superstar failed to hit the target in Sunday's 2-0 win.

"In the first half he was fantastic. It was one of his best performances this season where he created a number of goal-scoring chances. He is here to win titles and is clearly our most dangerous player."

Agence France-Presse