Barcelona - Arabstoday
The Blaugrana boss has acknowledged that the Catalans cannot afford to make a single slip-up between now and the end of the season, while also revealing Eric Abidal is on the mend.Pep Guardiola has admitted that Barcelona simply have no room for error as they strive to emulate their treble success of 2009.The Blaugrana have already set up a Copa del Rey final showdown with Athletic Bilbao but they currently trail Real Madrid by four points in La Liga and next week face Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie.Guardiola has repeatedly claimed that he does not foresee Barca holding onto their domestic crown and his view has not changed in that regard, even though they were 10 points behind Los Blancos as recently as last month.\"Is winning the Liga still possible? You know what I think: We\'ll just try to stay in contention for as long as we can,\" he told reporters at a press conference on Friday.\"But if we make a mistake, we\'re out, both in the league and in Europe.\"Barcelona travel to Stamford Bridge next Wednesday but with a trip to Valencia to take on Levante to squeeze in before then, Guardiola insists that the Champions League is the last thing on his mind at the moment.\"We can\'t think about the game against Chelsea just yet,\" he insisted. \"The only way to do a good job is to go game by game.\"Guardiola gladly broke focus for a moment, though, to reveal that the doctors treating Eric Abidal have told him that everything is going as planned in the defender\'s recovery from a liver transplant.The France international went under the knife on Tuesday and Blaugrana president Sandro Rosell announced the following morning that the early indications were that the procedure had been a success.Guardiola is continuing to preach caution but he has been buoyed by the latest information he has been given regarding Abidal\'s condition.\"He is doing well,\" the 41-year-old enthused. \"The doctors told me that everything is going as planned. That\'s the best news we can have.\"Meanwhile, Guardiola resisted the temptation to be drawn into a debate with Aitor Karanka after the Real Madrid assistant coach claimed that Los Blancos forward Cristiano Ronaldo is without doubt better than Blaugrana attacker Lionel Messi.\"I have no problem with him thinking that,\" the former Spain international said. \"We\'re just lucky to see such good players in action.\"Finally, Guardiola took time out to send his best wishes to his captain.Congrats to Carles Puyol on his 34th birthday! If he doesn\'t get injured, he can have a long career. Football is his life.\"I remember when Puyol arrived. You saw immediately he was ready to take on the world.\"Barcelona lock horns with Levante on Saturday, with the game in Valencia set to get underway at 22.00CET.