Six points still a big lead: Guardiola

Madrid: FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola insists that his side still has a lot of work to do if they want to overtake Real Madrid in the race for the Spanish football Primera Liga title.

Barcelona are six points behind league leaders Madrid and will look to reduce the deficit further when they travel to Mallorca Saturday. A week ago Barcelona were 10 points behind Real Madrid in the league table. All their hopes of retaining the title appeared to have vanished. However, following two consecutive 1-1 draws for Real Madrid, at home to Malaga and away to Villarreal, Barca now have chance for a late surge. Should Barcelona continue to win their matches, a further defeat for Madrid would leave Barcelona with the chance of overtaking them when the two sides meet in the Camp Nou Stadium next month. Speaking ahead of his side`s away trip to Mallorca, Guardiola insisted that was something that is easier said than done. "We are behind Real Madrid, so it`s better if they draw their games rather than win them. Six points are less than ten, but it is still a big gap," Barca coach was quoted as saying by Xinhua. "Real Madrid have drawn two games, but that doesn`t mean they are going to draw them all. "The most normal thing, which we know from the past two years, is that Real Madrid will win nearly all of their games. "When you bear that in mind, it is still a huge gap. That is why I said the league was lost not long ago. It was a comment based on purely sporting concepts," added Guardiola. "We both have difficult games. We can`t guarantee that we are going to win all of our games and neither can we guarantee that we will beat Madrid in the Camp Nou. "We have to continue to concentrate and try and win, we can`t do anything about Real Madrid. All we can do is give everything in our matches and try to win in every ground we visit," he said. IANS