Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino claims his side’s 2-1 victory over rivals Real Madrid will be a huge morale boost, but it certainly isn’t the title decider.
The Argentinian has mirrored the comments made by captain Carles Puyol despite the fact Los Blancos are now six points adrift of the current La Liga champions and only four points ahead of Atletico Madrid.
“Six points difference? The win is good for how we feel, it’s not so important from a mathematical point of view,” the 50 year-old told the press.
“There is still a long way to go and I’m still putting Atletico as one of the contenders.”
The Catalan giants took the lead at the Camp Nou through Neymar and substitute Alexis Sanchez secured the bragging rights only for youngster Jese Rodriguez to score a late consolation goal in injury time.
Martino was alert to Real’s change of emphasis when looking for the equaliser and brought on Sanchez and Alex Song for Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta.
“I noticed in the first 20 minutes of the second half we were too much on the back foot, giving the initiative to Real Madrid,” Martino continued.
“Starting from that point we considered the best choices for the substitutions. I don’t know how decisive it was at the end, but we managed to recover control of the game.”
Follow Louis Gibberd-Thomas on Twitter: @mercutio156
