Barcelona may be flying away at the top of the Primera Liga table but coach Pep Guardiola is determined to keep his feet and those of his players firmly on the ground at this stage of the season.
Barca continued their hugely impressive league form last night be seeing off arch rivals Real Madrid 2-0 at the Nou Camp, taking their tally to 38 points from a possible 42 since losing to Numancia on the opening day of the campaign.
The victory also left them 12 points above two-time reigning champions Madrid, plus eight points above second-placed Valencia, although Villarreal could reduce that gap back to six if they beat Sevilla tonight.
These are heady days for Barca as they chase their first piece of major silverware since 2006, but Guardiola is not one for getting carried away.
"I'm very happy to have beaten the current champions, and there is a good distance between us. But there is long way ahead of us, and we do not only play against Madrid," he said.
"We have only played 15 matches and there more rivals such as Villarreal, Valencia, and others," he said.
"I know very well what it means to go to difficult grounds, and you have to take into account that in January we will be back playing in three competitions (Primera Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey), which will take a lot out of us."
Guardiola, who replaced Frank Rijkaard this summer, also had words of comfort for new Madrid coach Juande Ramos, who was taking charge of his first league match with the injury-hit champions, having only replaced Bernd Schuster on Tuesday.
"I want to congratulate them for the great attacking game they played," Guardiola said.
"Madrid are a high-quality team and had important players missing. They are very dangerous and the counter-attack is their best weapon. It would be a mistake to rule them out (of the title race)."
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