Vilanova taking nothing for granted

Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova says La Liga is not easy and certainly not boring despite Sunday’s 4-1 over second placed Atletico Madrid.

The league leaders opened a nine-point buffer over Atletico with the victory by scoring four straight goals through Adriano, Sergio Busquets as well as a brace from Lionel Messi.

Earlier, Falcao had given the visitors the lead but they could little to stop Vilanova’s side from responding in lethal fashion and ultimately strolling to victory in the end.

The weekend also saw Real Madrid held to a 2-2 draw with Espanyol at the Bernabeu which leaves the defending champions a massive 13 points adrift of Barca – the destiny of the trophy already appears decided.

“We’ve won a lot of points, but it hasn’t been easy,” Vilanova said after the match.

“We’ve had to battle back to win games and perhaps we won’t be able to do that in the future.

“La Liga is not easy, and it certainly isn’t boring.

“In my first year [2008/09] we were 12 points back and we had to go to the Bernabeu and play for the title. Now, there’s a team that’s only nine points behind us.

“I don’t think that this title is ours to lose. If there is a team that has the capacity to win a lot of points, and they overtake us, then they deserve the title. It happened in 2009 and it could happen again,” Villanova said.