Sunday 10 April 2016 09:51, UK
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique believes his team can not afford to drop any more points after their lead at the top of La Liga was cut to three points following a 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad.
Defeats to Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in the past seven days have seen Barca's nine-point advantage over second-placed Atletico Madrid cut to three with six games remaining, while Real trail the Catalans by four points.
"It's obvious that we can't lose any more points now, we weren't at our best in recent games and this league will be won be the most consistent team in the remaining games," Enrique told a press conference.
The coach also insisted his team were not about to panic after allowing Atletico and Real back into the title race.
"No-one's going to leave here crying. We'll get out of it by changing everything and thinking about what we can do," Enrique added.
"Last year at this stage we were only two points above the second team with a worse head-to-head difference."
Mikel Oyarzabal scored the only goal of the game after five minutes and Barcelona, missing top scorer Luis Suarez and starting without Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic and Jordi Alba, failed to respond, losing for the fifth consecutive time at Anoeta.
"The game began in the worst way possible," Enrique said.
"We played really badly in the first half. We tried to turn it around with our hearts rather than our heads and we needed more control. These games weigh on you. We couldn't get close to them and we had no luck in the second half. Real Sociedad are always a stone in our shoe."
"We didn't deserve to lose, but we are still the leaders. Now we have to pick ourselves up after leaving this great stadium where we never do well."
Barca also lost 1-0 at Real Sociedad last year and the result threatened to derail their season, but instead sparked a run of 18 wins in 20 games which sealed the title, and they won the Copa del Rey and Champions League.
And Enrique sees no reason why his side cannot repeat that feat even after this latest setback.
"It's an opportunity for us to demonstrate that we are the best in the world like our shirt says," Enrique added. "Everything is up for grabs."
