Barcelona is determined to shake off its Champions League exit and
focus on winning the league trophy, the last piece of silverware
available to the defending Spanish champion.
Inter Milan denied Barcelona a chance to repeat as European
champion by holding on for a 3-2 aggregate victory on Wednesday in
the two-legged semifinal.
Barcelona holds a one-point lead over Real Madrid in the
league and can retain its title by winning its last four games. But
it must start with a tricky match at surging Villarreal this
weekend, while Madrid plays mid-table Osasuna.
Barcelona labored to a 1-0 win over Inter on Wednesday but
still exited because of a 3-1 defeat in Milan.
Having focused on a comeback against the Italians for the
last week, Barcelona must now turn its full attention to
Villarreal, which has won five of six to give itself an outside
chance of finishing in the top four to qualify for the Champions
League.
"You're left with feelings of rage and deception," forward
Pedro Rodriguez said after the European exit. "But now we've got a
difficult league game and we need to win each of the games we have
left. We need to raise our heads and keep going because the league
is still in play."
A 20th league title is all Barcelona has left following a
season when it won six trophies, including the Copa del Rey and
Club World Cup. But, ultimately, another defensive-oriented team
smothered the Catalans' up-tempo attacking game.
"You can never be a victim of your own success," coach Pep
Guardiola said. "This club knows very well how to lose because it
has lost a lot, a lot more than it has won."
Inter coach Jose Mourinho warned rivals not to drop their
guard against Barcelona.
"A team like Barcelona, which won everything last year,
deserves to be labeled the best team in the world," Mourinho said.
"Just because it lost in the semifinal doesn't it mean it's no
longer a team with quality.
"Their strength is playing football, but they've lost their
focus. They lacked fair play both on and off the field."
Mourinho's team will make the trip to Madrid's Santiago
Bernabeu stadium instead of Barcelona to play Bayern Munich in the
May 22 final.
The Spanish capital was ready to welcome the Portuguese coach
with open arms after he denied the Catalans a chance to play at the
Bernabeu. Reports linking Mourinho to the Madrid coaching job
continued Thursday.
"Mou, you've won it," sports daily Marca said on its front
page - referring to both the semifinal and the Madrid job.
Madrid must win its last four games and hope Barcelona
stumbles along the way, or current coach Manuel Pellegrini is
likely to go. Even if Madrid manages to win the league, the
Chilean's future is not certain.
Mourinho left his future open, taking another swipe at Serie
A after progressing.
"I'm in love with Inter and these fans, not Italian
football," Mourinho said "I respect it, but I don't love it."
Madrid can at least count on Kaka's presence after the Brazil
midfielder returned from injury to score the winner last weekend.
Groin and then leg muscle injuries attributed to Kaka's below-par
debut campaign with Madrid.
"I've endured seven or eight months of criticism but it's not
a problem," Kaka said. "I wasn't able to run or train for 40 days.
I just hope not to have any more physical problems."
Barcelona has 87 points, Madrid has 86 and Valencia, which
plays Espanyol, is third with 62.
The battle for fourth - and the last Champions League
qualifying place - heats up as Mallorca plays Athletic Bilbao and
Sevilla faces Atletico Madrid.
Mallorca is fourth with 56 points, Sevilla has 54, Villarreal
52 and Getafe and Athletic have 50 each.
In other games, it's: Malaga vs. Sporting Gijon; Valladolid
vs. Getafe; Tenerife vs. Racing Santander; Xerez vs. Almeria; and
Deportivo La Coruna vs. Zaragoza.
