Barcelona’s leading scorer Luis Suarez has applauded his team mates for sticking together during last month’s worrying dip in form with the possible reward of the La Liga title this weekend.
Barca held a nine-point lead over Atletico Madrid and were 10 in front of Real Madrid in April but lost three consecutive league games for the first time in 13 years to head into the last round of games leading the latter by one point.
“Everything happened all at once,” Suarez told ESPN in an interview. “We lost three league games in a row and were knocked out of the Champions League (by Atletico).
Despite taking a 2-1 lead in the first leg of their quarter-final against Atletico, Barca lost 2-0 in Madrid to see their hopes of becoming the first team to retain the trophy end. Atletico beat Bayern Munich in the semis and face Real in the final in Milan, although their domestic title bid is over.
“It left a really bitter taste in our mouths,” Suarez said. “We had deserved to go through. What had surprised me was that since I arrived, everything had gone so well and we got so accustomed to winning. We had a dip in form but that’s football.
“I wondered what might happen if we started to lose but now I see that the group remained strong and united,” he added. “We sent messages to each other to remind ourselves to believe in each other and that helped us keep our spirits up. We stayed together as a team and we never lost our confidence.”
Barca, who face Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final on May 22, can clinch a second straight league title, and sixth in eight years, on Saturday at Granada. “We control our own destiny,” said Suarez. “Winning now depends upon us and we are aware that we are one match away from winning the league, which was our main goal from the beginning of the season.” 

Former Bundesliga top scorer Andersen to coach N Korea  
Former Bundesliga top scorer Jorn Andersen is set to take over as head coach of the North Korean national soccer team, his family confirmed to Norwegian media. Family members told Norway’s state broadcaster NRK that the 53-year-old had signed a one-year deal with the notoriously secretive state, whose team are already out of the running for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Since retiring as a player Andersen has managed in Switzerland, Germany and Greece. His last job in football was with Austria Salzburg, which he left in December 2015. Andersen’s 18 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt made him the first foreigner to top the Bundesliga’s scoring charts in the 1989-1990 season. He also played for a number of other German and Swiss clubs.

No Cahill in Australia squad for England friendly
Tim Cahill and a handful of other experienced Socceroos will miss Australia’s friendly against England later this month because it falls outside the international window. The former Everton forward was left out of the squad for the May 27 match at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light along with Matthew Spiranovic, Trent Sainsbury, Ryan McGowan and Apostolos Giannou because it clashes with commitments to their Chinese clubs. Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou’s squad featured nine changes from the group that secured a place in the final round of Asian World Cup qualifying in March and included four uncapped players.
Defender Milos Degenek, midfielders Brad Inman and Stefan Mauk as well as striker Jamie Maclaren will all have a chance to win their first cap against Roy Hodgson’s side.
Several England-based players were included in the 23-man squad, including Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak, Queens Park Rangers midfielder Massimo Luongo, Liverpool fullback Brad Smith and Preston central defender Bailey Wright. Australia won their last friendly against England, beating Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side 3-1 at Upton Park in February 2003. Postecoglou said he would name another squad for two friendlies against Greece in early June.