Claudio Ranieri on Barcelona's title bid and playing style

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri gave an exclusive interview to SPORT in a box at the King Power Stadium. In this segment of the chat, he discussed La Liga and Barcelona with Jordi Blanco. 

Does Barcelona's bad moment surprise you? 

I don't know it in great detail, but you can't doubt Barcelona. How can you do that to a team who won everything last year? They have an extraordinary team. 

They are crossing the worst run of results in recent memory...

We're talking about a team that won it all last season and not so long ago we were saying were the example for everybody. Things can't end so quickly.

So you don't think it's a crisis?

Crisis? To lose against Real Madrid or Real Sociedad is not a crisis. The Champions League? Atletico have a great team too, with a lot of spirit. They knew how to win, that's it. 

But the month has seen Barcelona nose-dive.

During a season all teams go through ruts in play and results. Barcelona's problem is that it's happning at the worst moment, when the definitive time in the title fight draws near. 

Knocked out of the Champions League, they are almost without margin for error in La Liga...

Yes. And what we've seen too is that Atletico and Madrid weren't as bad as they said. Not so far off. They had bad moments and now this is happening to Barcelona, they've known how to be there. 

You said that Barcelona is a great team. Do they depend too much on the forwards?

Messi is an out-of-the-ordinary footballer. He's extraordinary because he knows how to do everything well, in any situation and moment. But the footballers are men, not machines. If at his side he has players like Suarez and Neymar, it's normal that they are the part of the team that stands out.

The key is to maintain calm in moments like this? 

Definitely. Keep calm and keep what you've been thinking. If oyu have an idea and it's given you results, it will give you results again. If you see that doesn't happen, you change. 

Have you had to change?

I've always adapted to all the team's I've managed. Valencia were electric and we ran a lot, with fast, vertical play. The year we were semi-finalists in the Champions League with Chelsea, according to UEFA statistics we were the team with the best position, with Monaco we came up and we were second the next year with the best points in history, behind PSG, and with more pacient play. Third with Juventus in the first year after coming up with positional play, like with Inter. 

Has Luis Enrique adapted more to Barcelona or the other way around?

With the players he has he's installed a play that's maybe more fast and direct. Transitions with less passes, but keeping the spirit of Barcelona.

Do you keep them as favourites for La Liga?

Barcelona are first, so they depend on themselves. They have pressure, but they have the advantage. They have to handle it.