FC Barcelona's coach Frank Rijkaard speaks about the match against Osasuna and future prospects for Barca.


After the second draw in three matches, the La Liga title becomes tougher to win for Barca. Coach Frank Rijkaard thinks it's still too early to say so and defends his team, attributing unconvincing results to external factors:

We secured a draw though a win could have been better. The result does not reflect the work we are doing. We have not been able to work with the full squad for two weeks and it’s not easy that way. Due to various factors, we have not reproduced our best form.

When asked about the possibilty that the La Liga is already slipping away from Barcelona, considering the Blaugrana are lagging four points behind teams like Real Madrid, Rijkaard disagreed:

It's still to early to say so. The league has only just started. There are many more games ahead and many more points to take. On our own part, what we mostly need now is concentration and focus. The final days of the league will determine wether the points lost up until now were important or wether they were not.

Rijkaard, who said he makes changes to ensure the protection of his players when asked about his substitution of Ronaldinho in the second half, remains hopeful that things will turn around for the Blaugrana in the coming weeks.