Pique, Granero call for league focus

Gerard Pique has warned his Barcelona team-mates they "cannot afford to fail" when they head to Malaga on Sunday. The Spain defender has taken little time to enjoy Barça's 2-1 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey last night as he knows the bigger prize will be to close Real's five-point advantage in the league. Barça can cut it to two, for a few hours at least, by beating Malaga before Real take on Athletic Bilbao at home later in the evening. Pique said that although Barça had been able to "impose their game" on Real in the head-to-head meetings, "the league is a completely different competition". "They are five points ahead of us. We must focus on Malaga. We cannot afford to fail," he said. While Barça might need to forget their joy to focus on the weekend, Real midfielder Esteban Granero has told his team-mates to quickly put their sorrow to one side as they prepare to face a Bilbao side who sit fifth in the standings. "We will have to change our mentality to win Sunday's match," he said. "I'm sure [the Barça game] will have left us ready to face Athletic Bilbao." Other fixtures The gap between the top two and the rest of La Liga could grow this weekend with third-placed Valencia, already seven points adrift of Barça, facing a challenging trip to an Osasuna side battling to stay in the European places, as they sit sixth, one point above Sevilla, Malaga and Espanyol. Should Valencia lose, Levante could move to within a point of them by beating rock-bottom Real Zaragoza. Sevilla travel to Real Betis on Sunday, while Espanyol host struggling Granada on Saturday. Atletico Madrid's bid to climb back into the race for Europe will be tested away to Real Sociedad on Saturday, while Racing Santander host Getafe and Real Mallorca travel to Rayo Vallecano. The weekend's fixtures are completed on Monday night when Villarreal play Sporting Gijon, where a win for either could pull the victors out of the relegation zone.