3 defeats is not disaster: Barcelona president Sandro Rosell

Barcelona: Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has appealed for calm from supporters after three consecutive defeats under caretaker coach Jordi Roura, who is standing in for the cancer-stricken Tito Vilanova.

The Spanish giants lost their Champions League knockout phase first-leg encounter away to AC Milan 2-0 a fortnight ago, before last week’s back-to-back losses to Real Madrid in the King’s Cup 3-1 at home and in La Liga 2-1 away.

Vilanova is receiving chemotherapy in New York following his relapse of parotid gland cancer, which was first diagnosed in 2011. Roura, Vilanova’s assistant, is overseeing first team affairs until further notice, but with the management in limbo results are on the slide.

Barcelona are still 11 points clear at the top of La Liga with 12 games to play, ahead of this Saturday’s home clash with bottom club Deportivo La Coruna, but they are now out of the Spanish Cup and stand perilously close to a European exit too.

Despite that, Rosell has pledged to stick by Vilanova and Roura, asking fans for more respect of the situation and credit for the players during what has been a difficult few weeks.

Speaking at the Nou Camp, Rosell said: “I want to send a message of tranquility and calmness to the fans. When a team loses three in a row there’s always a feeling of defeat, but I hope the fans and media are mature enough to know that this is not the end of the world.

“The reaction so far has been over-exaggerated. It’s normal when there’s no leader that sooner or later you start to notice the consequences. But we shouldn’t make it the fault of the players.

“They have accomplished enough in the past few years and should be given more credit. What’s happened in the last three games shouldn’t take the credit of recent seasons away from them,” added Rosell, in reference to the club’s litany of trophies under former coach Pep Guardiola, who took the club past Real Madrid’s all-time trophy haul of 73 with 14 titles out of a possible 19 during his four-year reign.

Re-asserting his faith in the club’s technical staff, Rosell added: “I ratify Tito [Vilanova] as our coach. He is the coach and whatever happens he will stay. We’ve never considered anyone else, nor even talked about the possibility of replacing him. We’re also grateful to Roura. He didn’t have to do what he’s doing right now but he decided to help out.

“Sometimes it may look as if the locker room is on fire, but it isn’t. We are still league leaders. Football is sport, not pure mathematics, so we can’t guarantee the title, but our priority is the recuperation of Tito. If Tito gets better then we could say it’s been a good season. In the mean time the players and staff will do everything they can to win the league.

“Tito is very informed of goings on at the club and is in daily communication with players and staff. He’s in a very good condition and can’t wait to come back and we can’t wait to have him back either.”

In a further appeal to the fans and in reference to Vilanova’s initial diagnosis, as well as French midfielder Eric Abidal’s liver tumour and subsequent transplant last year, Rosell said: “In the past few years we’ve had four incidences of illness. But we’ve overcome these obstacles and just ask for a little bit of respect for the players, and especially Tito, who have been through all these difficulties.”