Marcelo Bielsa admits Leeds United 'lost control' against Barnsley, but character puts them on brink of promotion

Focused as ever, the Argentinian says it would not be “convenient” to think about it just yet.

The Whites' derby rivals made them work extremely hard for victory, but they got it, and could win promotion on Friday if another of their neighbours, Huddersfield Town, take points off West Bromwich Albion in the early-evening game.

Bielsa is something of a control freak when it comes to how his possession-based team performs on the field, but he admitted they were hanging on at times against bottom-of-the-table Barnsley, who realistically need to win both their remaining games to have any chance of staying in the Championship.

“In the first half we didn’t have a big impact but we could control the match to create some chances,” reflected the Argentinian, who saw his side recover from a slow start to take the lead through a Michael Sollbauer own goal.

“In the second half we couldn’t control the match. It was difficult for us to defend.

“When an team has a lot of players in attack, that can unbalance the match. As the match progressed they added more offensive players and removed defensive players. We organised ourselves to adapt.

“It was difficult for us to defend well and we didn’t attack well in particular.

“(Callum Styles), an offensive player, creative midfielder, finished playing as a left-sided centre-back. (Mads Andersen) was in our box as a centre-forward.

“So, what we did is try to control those situations and we needed players from the bench. They did everything, they used all their options.

“We were thinking all the time about how to control them. When we recovered the ball, we lost it very quickly.

“In the second half we spent a lot of time in defence. Honestly, I want to recognise the work of our opponent because they tried, in all the possible ways. Possibly they deserved a different result.”

To win in spite of that said something about the character of the league leaders.

“It was a collective effort,” said Bielsa proudly. “We had to run a lot to keep the result. I value a lot the courage and effort all the players gave to keep our lead.

“It was a very tough match mentally, It was difficult for us to defend and then attack, and to try to develop the play we wanted in the opponents’ half. We couldn’t do it in the second half.

“We couldn’t attack more than defend in the second half. So, when the difference is just one goal, it’s very difficult to keep the balance. Try to defend ourselves.”

It felt like a hugely significant win, and the roars from sporting director Victor Orta's seat showed that he felt that way too but Bielsa was refusing to get carried away.

“Until we resolve the situation mathematically it is not convenient to talk about this,” he said.

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