Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has insisted that Atletico Madrid are capable of winning La Liga, contrary to counterpart Diego Simeone's claims.

Simeone suggested earlier this week that only Barca and current champions Real Madrid have it in them to win the Spanish top flight due to their financial advantage.

Ahead of Sunday's meeting between the leaders and Atletico at Camp Nou, however, Valverde acknowledges that the seven-point gap between the teams can easily be reduced.

"Keeping in mind how Simeone and his teams compete, I have no doubt that they will fight until the end," he told reporters at Wednesday's press conference. "Not even he thinks the league is over, of course he doesn't - and nor do we."

Prior to tackling Atletico, Barca must first travel to Las Palmas on Thursday, while Atletico are in action 24 hours beforehand against Leganes.