Barcelona on track for titles, says Vilanova

Tito Vilanova believes that Barcelona’s record-breaking start to the season will see them win silverware, should they maintain their form.

The club’s 5-1 triumph over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Saturday night ensured that the club have had the best start to a top-flight Spanish campaign in their 113-year lifespan, surpassing Real Madrid’s 1991-92 marker.

Vilanova said that making history is great, but he preferred to look at the individual effort against the Basques at Camp Nou.

“I’m pleased that we broke the record but I’m even more pleased with how the players played in the game,” Vilanova said.

“Even though we were up 5-1, we kept on pressing them with the intention of scoring more. If we continue down this path I’m sure we’ll win a lot of matches and we’ll be there when it comes time to fight for silverware.”

Despite the one-sided scoreline, Vilanova insisted that the encounter was not an easy affair and praised the intensity of their opponents.

“Athletic have a different way of playing to the rest (of La Liga’s teams) because they never let up; they never give you time to think,” the Spaniard added.

“If you don’t play at an intense pace, Athletic can make it very complicated for you. We were very intense in our individual match-ups, we took risks and we were on target in front of goal. Even though the end result shows a big difference, it wasn’t an easy match.”

Vilanova also heralded Pep Guardiola’s time in charge of Barcelona, just days after his former boss was nominated for FIFA’s Coach of the Year award.

“Those four years are unrepeatable because of everything that was done, because of the titles, because of how the team played,” he said.

“I’m very proud that I was part of it.”