JAKARTA - Barcelona player Jordi Alba said his team had returned to the race for the league title after beating Elche 3-0 in Thursday's match. Las Blaugranas cut the difference in points from La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid to five points.
After a bad start to the season Ronald Koeman's team have won eight of their last 10 league matches and have kept Diego Simeone's side at the top of the table.
Atletico have one game more than Barca but since the start of this month their form has been sluggish, winning just one of the last four. Their self-confidence is also sinking after being defeated by Chelsea 0-1 in a Champions League match.
"The title race is in progress," Alba told reporters after contributing to the goal against Elche following two goals scored by Lionel Messi in the second half.
⚽ ¡GOOOOL DE JORDI ALBA! (3-0, min 73) # BarçaElche pic.twitter.com/33Spiutyxu
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) February 24, 2021
"People do not take us into account for a few weeks and say but we know it is up to us if we want to continue fighting in the league. The other teams continue to slip, we are the only ones who do not," continued Alba.
Barca, who jumped Sevilla to third place thanks to the victory and are now two points behind Real Madrid, could have stuck to Atletico even more if they had not conceded a 1-1 draw by Cadiz last weekend.
They looked nervous in the first half against Elche and did not create many chances before then completely outperformed their opponents in the second half.
Koeman criticized his men for the first half's performance which led Messi to scold his team-mates before the end of the first half. Koeman was impressed by the reactions of his players.
Doble asistente 😎 @MartinBraith pic.twitter.com/YZZBcA9ZAp
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) February 24, 2021
"Everyone could see that we weren't fast enough or intense in the first half and it is good that Messi as captain asked for more intensity," said Koeman.
"We want to play well but sometimes the opponent makes it difficult and we've played a lot of games lately so we are tired. We are humans, not machines, and sometimes you play worse than others. But we have shown character in this. the second half, "concluded Koeman.
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