Valverde not ruling Real Madrid or Atletico out of title race
The Barça coach is not taking his side's lead for granted
Barcelona's 2-0 win over Malaga moved them 11 clear
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde says the La Liga title race is still open despite extending their lead at the top of the table to 11 points with a win over Malaga on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid could move back within eight points on Sunday with a win, while Real Madrid, who beat Eibar on Saturday, are 15 points back.
However, Valverde's not ruling anyone out: "Of course there's a title race. While it’s still mathematically possible, you can’t rule anyone out. I won’t rule [Madrid] out and they will do well not to rule themselves out, too."
Valverde also explained how he found out that Lionel Messi would miss the Malaga game after the birth of his third child on Saturday morning.
"Before leaving home Carles Naval [the first team delegate] called me and told me what had happened," the coach said.
"It was within the dates which we expected. It wasn’t complicated. I wasn't going to play with 10 so I just put another player in..."
Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho scored the goals as Barça won 2-0 but there was also an encourgaing performance from Ousmane Dembele.
"Dembele’s a player that needs time," Valverde said. "He’s young. We’re Barça and there’s a lot of pressure here, for that reason there’s a lot of focus on him.
"The good thing is that he always tries to do things. Today he took a step forward and he helped us a lot. There’s still a way to go."
