Real pinning title hopes on victory against Barcelona

Real Madrid are pinning their hopes of wresting the league title from the grasp of Barcelona on victory in next week's "clasico" against their arch-rivals.

With eight games left to play, Real have cut Barca's lead at the top of the table to nine points after eking out a 2-1 weekend win at relegation-threatened Albacete while the Catalans scrambled a 3-3 draw against 10-man Real Betis at the Nou Camp.

Anything less than victory for Real at next Sunday's clash at the Bernabeu would effectively extinguish their chances and leave the Galacticos facing a second successive season without a major trophy.

"The difference is nine points, but we know that we can still win the league," Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo said after the Albacete game. "We now have to win the eight games that remain."

"We have a week to prepare a very special match and we know that we cannot fail. While there is still hope we will keep on fighting -- no one should have any doubt about that."

While Real had stand-in striker Michael Owen to thank for their win over Albacete, Barca narrowly avoided a second home defeat of the season when Dutch international Giovanni van Bronckhorst pounced to score a last-gasp equaliser against in-form Betis.

Barca coach Frank Rijkaard said he was satisfied by the result but not the performance.

"We can be very pleased with the point," the Dutchman said. "It was a strange game, though."

"We didn't play well and that's why we suffered so much, but we showed the fighting spirit at the end that allowed us to change the result of a game that looked to be lost."

"In the end this point could end up being very important in the race for the league title. The match against Real will be a very different affair, however."