Battling Barca seek to mimic Real's route to title

Barcelona proved they have learned a lesson from arch rivals Real Madrid with a dramatic late winner against Osasuna that narrowed the gap on the leaders to six points.

Under Fabio Capello last season, Real steadily reeled in Barca to snatch the title from them on the final day with a run of gritty performances full of comebacks and last-minute goals that owed more to team spirit than anything else.

Going into Sunday's game, Barca already knew that Real had slipped up, ending an eight-match winning streak with a 2-0 defeat away to modest Almeria on Saturday.

But they laboured through 88 minutes of anxiety-ridden football before Xavi popped up to hammer home the winner, sparking celebrations worthy of a cup final.

"Sometimes you have to win with your heart, not with your play, and that's what we did. We played as a team," France striker Thierry Henry told reporters.

"There is time to return to playing well again, but the most important thing today was to win."

Italy full back Gianluca Zambrotta added: "A week ago everyone gave us up for dead, but we are still in it. Whether we played well or not is irrelevant, what's important is the attitude."

Barca's free-flowing attacking football has disappeared to be replaced by a more pragmatic style of late and defensive rigour has guided them through a relatively dry patch in front of goal.

"I'm not worried (about the team's lack of goals scored) because we created chances," said coach Frank Rijkaard.

"The goals will come. It's a question of confidence. But it is true that our struggling to score has caused a few nervous moments."

After their surprise defeat on Saturday, Real coach Bernd Schuster played down the significance of the result.

"I'm not worried by this," he said. "This setback comes at the perfect time for us and I'm sure we'll react well. This defeat just shows that this is the most competitive league and that's why it is the best."