Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has insisted that the Catalan giants can challenge for this season's La Liga title despite a slow start to the campaign.
A return of 12 points from seven matches has left Barcelona in ninth position in the table, and they have only won three times in Spain's top flight this term.
Blaugrana are only five points off the top of the division with a game in hand on leaders Real Madrid, though, and Koeman is confident that his side can still launch a challenge for the title.
"When the injured [players] recover, I am more satisfied with the squad," Koeman told reporters. "There are always injuries, but we were unlucky.
"Almost all the forwards were injured. We can compete to win the championship. To get the best performance you have to have all the men available. Little by little we will get better."
Barcelona will be looking to bounce back from defeats to Benfica and Atletico Madrid when they continue their 2021-22 La Liga campaign at home to Valencia on Sunday night.
Matt Law
