Guardiola maintains title hope

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has insisted that his side are still in the race for the La Liga title after Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Espanyol.

A late Alvaro goal denied Barca of the three points against their Catalan rivals after Cesc Fabregas had given his side the lead after 16 minutes.

The draw puts the Spanish champions five points behind Real Madrid, but Guardiola said that Barca are still in contention for the league trophy.

“La Liga is not over yet, I do not think a significant part of the league has slipped away from us,” he told reporters after the match.

“There are many matches left; we have a very good team above us, but they have very difficult away matches ahead.”

“Our only goal is to look at ourselves, continue doing the good things we did today and improve the things we did not do so well.”

The 40-year-old did not wish to comment on Raul Rodriguez’s alleged handball inside Espanyol’s area in the dying stages of the match, and said that the referee’s decision not to award a penalty cannot justify the result.

“We have to overcome our mistakes and the things that did not go our team’s way,” Guardiola added.

“We have to look at what we can do, not what the referees do. At Barcelona we have to do it this way and we will continue doing it like this.”