Defeat is a wake-up call for Barca

Barcelona's players say their 2-1 defeat at Osasuna has been a wake-up call for the Primera Liga leaders as they bid for a second consecutive title.

Saturday's 0-0 draw between closest challengers Valencia and Real Madrid had left the door open for Barca to establish a 12-point lead on Sunday with 11 games left to play.

But Frank Rijkaard's side looked clearly off the pace and quite unsettled by Osasuna's combative approach and finished the game with only nine men after red cards for Edmilson and Thiago Motta.

"It looked as though we could leave here as champions but it wasn't to be, so we will have to keep on working hard," Ronaldinho told reporters.

"It was a tough game and they didn't let us play very much. They made a lot of tactical fouls and it really wound us up."

Motta said: "We can't blame the referee for the defeat.

"But we should all remain calm because we still have a nine-point advantage over the others."

Barcelona have 61 points from 27 games, while Valencia have the edge over Real on head-to-head results with both sides level on 52 points. Osasuna are fourth with 49.

Barcelona had entered the game on a high after knocking Chelsea out of the Champions League last Tuesday.

But after an impressive 18-match winning run ended in a surprise King's Cup defeat to Real Zaragoza at the end of January, Barca have now lost three league games in just over six weeks to Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Osasuna.