Barca will not rely on rivals slipping up – Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique insists Barcelona must continue to keep the destiny of the Liga title in their own hands and not rely on their rivals slipping up.

Barca stayed at the summit with a hard-fought 2-0 win at Real Betis on Saturday, second-half goals from Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez leaving the Catalans two wins away from defending the title.

However, there is still plenty of work to do with Atletico and Real Madrid beating Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad earlier on Saturday to maintain the pressure at the top.

And Barca head coach Luis Enrique is only focusing on what his side can impact. 

“We have never thought that the league was won. But we are first and we’re still depending on ourselves,” he said.

“What we have to do is win our games. We can wait for someone to fail, but we must focus on our work and solve problems with the faith we had [against Betis].”

Barca were well off the pace in the first half at the Benito Villamarin, but Betis were up against it once Heiko Westermann was sent off in the 35th minute.

It was a much better showing after the break, and Luis Enrique says the tough encounter is a reminder that not every match will be won 8-0 or 6-0 as Barca did against Deportivo La Coruna and Sporting Gijon in their past two matches.

“Now it seems that if you do not win every game 8-0 the team [has not played well], but let’s be serious this a very competitive league,” he added.

“The three of us who aspire to win the league are at a very good level, I do not think they will fail so everything depends on us.”