Barcelona: Pep Guardiola has taken Barcelona to the heights of world football, but his team has never been in a tougher situation than now. They trail Spanish league leaders Real Madrid by six points and face a loaded fixture list that will complicate the chase of their in-form rival.
Guardiola has had an unprecedented run since he took over as Barcelona's first-team coach in the summer of 2008 with a club record 12 trophies, including two Champions League crowns and three straight Spanish league titles.
Yet a surprise 1-0 loss at Getafe on Saturday broke Barcelona's 27-game unbeaten streak and left them trailing their fierce rivals, who are playing their best football in years.
In his second season at Madrid, coach Jose Mourinho is on the best winning run of his career after his team beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 for their 13th straight victory in all competitions.
Guardiola, however, refuses to sound the alarm.
"The loss isn't terrible," Guardiola said. "I don't think the league has slipped away. There is still a long way to go."
Even so, the former midfielder recognized that his team's margin of error is shrinking.
"We can afford fewer slip-ups now," Guardiola said. "We will keep working hard and move forward."
The European champions have had to reshuffle their schedule to make room for the upcoming Club World Cup, meaning that fatigue from added games could also play an important factor as they try to keep pace with Madrid.
Barcelona play Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday, Levante next Saturday, and BATE Borisov in the Champions League four days later before then heading to Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium on December 10.
"The distance is considerable. Madrid are getting away," said Barcelona defender Gerard Pique. "But Guardiola has done things to make this club rise to an even greater level, and we have to continue believing in him."
If Barcelona plan on catching Madrid, they will have to improve their play away from home.
While Barcelona have outscored their opponents by an overall 30-0 in seven league games at Camp Nou to start this season, they have only won two of seven away matches.
Compare that to last season when Barcelona set league records for most away wins in a season with 14 and for the most consecutive away games unbeaten with 23.
Much of the downturn has to do with their lack of scoring punch outside the Catalan capital. Lionel Messi has scored 15 goals this season in the Spanish league but has only found the back of the net once away from home, and the star forward has received very little help from his partners up front.
David Villa has scored four goals while forward Pedro Rodriguez and new signing Alexis Sanchez have only struck once each in league play.
Villa says Barcelona are already targeting the first clasico of the season as their best chance to cut into the deficit.
"We still have a direct game against them and we can win that easily," the Spain striker said. "This isn't over."
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