Guardiola urges Barca to focus

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola knows nothing less than victory is expected of his team when they host Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday.

The reigning champions were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against local rivals Espanyol last week, allowing league leaders Real Madrid to extend their advantage in the title race.

The onus is now on Barcelona to hit back with a win at home to promoted side Betis.

And regardless of the state of the championship race, taking three points at Camp Nou is always the minimum expectation for a club of Barca’s stature, according to their coach.

“In football something always happens if you don’t win, and even more so for those in the big clubs,” Guardiola said.

“So against Betis we have to win just like against Osasuna, we went there to win,” he added, referring to Barca’s 2-1 win in their Copa del Rey second-leg match on Thursday.

The 6-1 aggregate victory over Osasuna set up a mouth-watering quarter-final against cup holders Real Madrid, with the first leg to be played on Wednesday.

But Guardiola is not prepared to look beyond the team’s immediate league commitments.

“Against Madrid we will see what shape we are in when we go there and then talk,” he said.

“But the main thing is we have to win (against Betis).”

“So this has nothing to do with the fact that we are points behind Madrid. No, it’s because at this club if you want to play, coach or manage, then you have to understand that here if you don’t win, then that means there are problems.”

“And we try to avoid problems by winning.”

Barca have now drawn four more matches than Real, consequently recording four fewer victories, with Guardiola stressing the importance of collecting every available point during the rest of the season.

“We are now competing in this league against a rival and it’s evident that we can’t afford any more mistakes, because they (Real) are strong, and they are reliable,” he said.

“But there still remain 63 points to play for. That’s still a lot of points and the objective I have in my head which I need to transmit to the players is that we have to win these points. We have to do that.”