"Barca will struggle with ten-point gap"

Posted Friday, February 17, 2012 by ESPN

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque believes that Barcelona may have already lost an opportunity to reclaim their La Liga title as the current gap could prove insurmountable.

Del Bosque was last in charge of Real Madrid during the 2003/04 season when his contract was not renewed despite him landing the league title. His side were a mere two points ahead of Real Sociedad by the end of the season but he believes that the current conditions are far more difficult for any side seeking to catch up with the league leaders Real.

The World Cup-winning coach believes that Real Madrid's excellent form this season and the increased competition will cause severe problems for Barcelona in any attempts to close the gap.

Speaking to AS on Tuesday, he said: "Madrid are ten points ahead of Barcelona, which in these times, is many points."

He added a caveat stating that "there is much competition ahead" with 16 games left to play for the two arch-rivals.

But on the other hand, Madrid will have to remain wary of complacency as in the past they themselves have managed to chase Barcelona despite the latter holding a sizeable lead in the second half of the season.

This occured most notably in the 2006/07 season under Fabio Capello when they found themselves six points behind Barcelona at the same stage of the season but sheer determination and some poor results for the Catalan side allowed them to equalise five games before the end.

Real Madrid won the league that year due to a better head-to-head record.

The Madrid-based side have been in phenomenal form this season and have lost only to Levante and Barcelona so far. Their title challenge has rested on the goalscoring exploits of star player Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has scored 27 goals so far and looks set to reclaim the Pichichi trophy that he won last year.

But manager Jose Mourinho believes that the team need to be more focused in their defensive duties as Madrid have been especially generous at home since the turn of the year. They have conceded 9 goals in 6 matches at the Santiago Bernebau this year.

Even bottom club Real Zaragoza has managed to score against them and Mourinho called upon his defenders to concentrate more on their defensive duties.

"We need to defend at home the way we defend while we are away," he was quoted as having instructed his players according to Marca.

"We cannot afford having blindspots."

The two sides are both active in the Champions League and Barcelona look assured to progress to the quarter-final after a 3-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in their round of 16 match in the Champions League.

Barcelona will hope to build upon that performance when they host Valencia on Sunday. Real Madrid can increase the pressure on them by extending the gap to13 points if they defeat Racing Santander in their home fixture which takes place 24 hours earlier.