Malaga vs Barcelona - Barcelona title hopes hinge on beating Malaga

Posted Saturday, April 08, 2017 by PA

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has warned his team an inability to win their LaLiga game at Malaga on Saturday could cost them the title.

The Spaniard's team remain second and in pursuit of league leaders Real Madrid, who face cross-city rivals Atletico and remain two points ahead of Barca despite having played one fewer game.

Enrique's captain Andres Iniesta has already spoken of the importance of them securing victory away to Real later this month, but the coach insisted they had greater priorities.

"The league title passes through Malaga," he said said in quotes reported on Barca's official website. "If we don't pick up three points and our rivals do then it will be much tougher for us so we are not looking beyond that.

"We have always had problems against them, on an individual level they have a lot of talent and it will be a good test for us it we are to continue in the battle for the league.

"Oddly, they have done (well against Barca) with different coaches, Javi Gracia, Juande Ramos and now they have Michel in charge. I think it is to do with the individual talent they have, they can cause us problems in attack and defence and we have to put in a good performance to overcome that."

Enrique was also asked about Iniesta's comments, with Barca also preparing to visit Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday, and he responded: "No, we have to win the game against Malaga because if we don't things get a lot tougher.

"We will look at other things later. Of course games between direct rivals are vital, but everything right now is Malaga."

The 46-year-old has called up Carles Alena and Alex Carbonell from Barca's B team amid injuries to Rafinha, Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, with Ivan Rakitic and Gerard Pique suspended.

It is perhaps those absences, combined with Malaga's 1-0 win at Sporting Gijon earlier this week, that has led to their coach Michel concluding the timing of Saturday's fixture is good for his team.

"Following the victory the other day, this match arrives at a good time," he told his club's official website. "We're doing well, the players have shown that they can do it, and from now on we'll play with much less pressure and much more like what we want to represent.

"This makes the team far more reliable, whether the rival is Barcelona or Sporting.

"In addition, as we've seen in recent weeks, there's been a lot of frowning because of the difficult situation we were in, but now the team is much happier, uninhibited and with that dose of cheer that we were lacking.

"I hope this joy, beyond the result, will be seen on the pitch against Barcelona."