Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has issued an ultimatum to his players for the second half of the 2020/21 La Liga season.
La Blaugrana have potentially hauled themselves back into the title race in recent weeks with Koeman’s improving side picking up 17 points from their last seven league games.
A win at Granada this weekend will bring them up to third place in the table, with a four point gap behind Real Madrid reduced if Zinedine Zidane’s team fail to win at Osasuna.
However, despite the increase in positivity at the club at the start of 2021, Koeman is under no illusion over the task facing him in the coming months.
“You have to go game by game and we cannot think about the Super Cup, as we need to play tomorrow’s game first,” he told a pre-match press conference with Marca.
“Our situation in La Liga means we must give our best. We’ll see what comes next.
“We know it has been a tough week with three away games.
“But we have to recover and show what we can do.
“We are not in a situation where more points can be lost. There is a great pressure on us and we know we cannot lose.
“Because of the situation in La Liga, we cannot lose more games.”
Following their trip to Andalucia to face Diego Martinez’s side this weekend Koeman and his players face a cup double header.
They take on Real Sociedad in the Spanish Supercopa semi-final on January 13 in Cordoba, and potentially Real Madrid or Athletic Club in the final four days later, followed by a Copa del Rey tie at Catalan neighbours Cornella on January 20.
