Ronald Koeman believes there is still a strong possibility for Barcelona to win the La Liga.
Real Madrid went up to the top after beating them 2-1 in the El Clasico.
Barcelona are now a point behind both the Madrid clubs. Atletico Madrid still have a game to play this weekend and could retake the lead.
“Of course we’re still upbeat and optimistic because we’ve produced a serious performance,” Barca head coach Koeman told reporters. “We are fighting.
“We lost a match against a team who are fighting to win the league but there are nine matches and all the matches are important for the three best teams.
“It’s difficult for all three of us. We will come back, we will fight until the last match.”
Koeman felt his team should have had a penalty when Martin Braithwaite went down off of a challenge from Ferland Mendy. He continued, “I’m not the only person who’s upset about the decision, or lack of decision.
“The players feel disappointed because of this decision by the referee to not give the penalty and there’s players who have been playing for years for Barcelona, so I know. But once again not all decisions were right.
“You should ask the players but I would like to include myself. We know that we’ve played a good match football wise, the first part, the first half, ok, we were not up to our standards. Real Madrid defended very well in the first half.
“There’s no [league] match next week and the title [Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao] is at stake. We have a week to prepare for a difficult match so we’ll carry on and we are strong.”
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