Suarez refuses to give up La Liga title fight

Posted Sunday, December 11, 2016 by Goal.com

After helping Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Osasuna, the Uruguayan striker made it clear that the reigning champions still believe they can defend their crown

Luis Suarez insists Barcelona will not give up on their title chances following their 3-0 La Liga win over Osasuna on Saturday.

The Uruguay international opened the scoring early in the second half at El Sadar, before a double from Lionel Messi sealed the victory for Luis Enrique's side.

Magic Messi brings first win in a month

A run of three league draws in a row for Barca - including in last weekend's Clasico - has allowed Real Madrid to build a healthy advantage at the top of the table and the gap will be restored to six points if they beat Deportivo La Coruna at the Santiago Bernabeu later on Saturday.

Suarez, however, says they will not concede defeat in a league campaign that has only reached the halfway point.

"We knew that getting the first goal would open the game up," he said to BeIn Sports. "We worked very hard in the first half, we had a lot of chances but we couldn't turn them into goals.

22 - Luis Suárez has scored against 22 out of 24 sides he has met in La Liga (66 goals). Deal.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) December 10, 2016
"Fortunately, we were able to close out the game.

"We're still in the title race, even though we're six points behind. We are Barca: even though we're second, we'll fight to be champions again."

Messi improves on remarkable record

Full-back Sergi Roberto hailed his side for a disciplined display in which they missed a number of opportunities before Suarez's opening goal after 59 minutes.

"We were very patient in creating our chances and we played a very complete match in every way," he said.