Barcelona coach Koeman admits title chances slipping away after Eibar draw | OneFootball

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman admits their title chances are slipping away after drawing 1-1 with Eibar.

The Catalans' struggles this season worsened on Tuesday evening as they slumped to a 1-1 draw with Eibar in the absence of captain Lionel Messi, leaving them still some way adrift of Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.

"I'm realistic, winning the title is complicated," Koeman said after the game.

"Nothing is impossible, but we have to recognise the distance.

"Atletico look very good to me. They're very strong and they don't concede many goals."

Without Messi and Gerard Pique, Barcelona were left wanting all over the pitch, but the Dutchman doesn't believe that they needed more leadership.

"I don't want to say that we lacked experienced players," Koeman said.

"There's a transition in the team and we have injuries too.

"We're playing young players, but today we had five or six young players and players with experience too.

"We missed Leo, who makes a difference, but the feeling now is that we should have won.

"We had chances, missed a penalty and gave away the goal, which was their only shot on target."