One more slip could cost Barcelona La Liga title, says Terry Gibson

Barcelona cannot afford another slip up in La Liga with Atletico and Real Madrid closing in, says Terry Gibson.

Having picked up one point from a possible 12, Luis Enrique's side are now level on points with Atletico at the top of the table with five games remaining.

They travel to Deportivo on Wednesday, while Atletico go to Athletic Bilbao and Real host Villarreal sitting a point behind.

Gibson, speaking on the La Liga Weekly Podcast, says he can see Atletico and Real winning all of their remaining fixtures.

"We can assess the fixture list now and I wouldn't be surprised to see Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid win all their games, and I think Barcelona's biggest opponents are themselves at the moment.

"If they'd have won against Valencia, I think they'd have gone on to win the league. If they beat Deportivo I think they go on and win the league.

La Liga title race back on

After Barcelona's third successive league defeat, we look at the final few weeks of La Liga

"If they don't, I think they've blown it, it's that cut and dried for me. Nobody expected it, one point from the last 12, it is remarkable how it has turned around. The panic has set in."

Enrique has been criticised in recent weeks for Barcelona's over-reliance on Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi, who have scored the majority of the club's goals this season.

But Gibson says Barcelona's small squad is more to do with the spending on marquee signings like Suarez and Neymar, and still believes a back-up striker is needed to aid them in latter stages of the game.

Is Neymar to blame?

In his weekly column, Guillem Balague says Neymar should not take full blame for Barcelona's slip

"The small squad is not so much to do with the transfer ban, but perhaps more to do with the money spent on Suarez and Neymar, which means you have to sacrifice people like Pedro and Alexis Sanchez, how useful may they have been?

"But you can't have them, and the budget doesn't allow you to have them all sitting on the bench.

"What Luis Enrique needs, and what many managers need, is the first choice XI and maybe six or seven more players that he trusts.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

"We've mentioned it before, they need a 30, 31-year-old quality striker that will be happy to be back up to one of Messi, Suarez and Neymar. Like a younger version of David Villa.

"In the last couple of games when they've been chasing goals, Pique has been going up front for the final five minutes."