Busquets: "The title race is far from over"

The midfielder scored the go-ahead goal against Atlético. On the play that led to the goal, Busquets said: "I knew that the defender and the keeper would go to the ground, that's why I waited to shoot"

The midfielder admitted that "we have a good advantage," but he warned that La Liga is far from over

Sergio Busquets scored the go-ahead goal against Atlético Madrid, his first of the season, after Falcao gave the visiting side the lead in the first half. The midfielder explained that after he received the rebound in the area that “I knew that the defender and the keeper would go to the ground, that’s why I waited to shoot.” The Blaugrana noted that he’s very pleased with his personal performance as well as the team’s form: “it’s important that we stay at this level. I always try to help the team and so far it’s been going great.”

Important advantage but not definitive

With last night’s victory over Atlético Madrid (4-1), the Colchoneros are now 9 points adrift of Barça, while Real Madrid are 13 points back. On Barça’s advantage, Busquets said that “it’s a very good lead, but there’s a lot of Liga left and we can’t rule out Atlético or Real Madrid.” The midfielder commented on the notion that La Liga is Barça’s to lose: “There’s no way we’d allow this lead to slip, we can only focus on the match against Valladolid so that we can go to the Christmas break with a certain degree of tranquility.”

Pedro, cautious on Barça’s lead

The FC Barcelona forward, who was given a standing ovation when he was subbed out, noted that “Real Madrid will not give up,” in addition he said that “the advantage we have is important  . . . this week has gone really well for us.” Pedro then warned that “we cannot lose focus, we haven’t won anything yet.”

On the match against Atlético and Barça’s accuracy in front of goal, Pedro declared that “there are matches where you shoot a lot and you don’t score, and then there are matches where you shoot fewer times and they go in.” On Barça’s next match, Pedro noted that Valladolid are a very dangerous rival. “They always make it difficult for any team, besides, chances are it will be very cold when we play against them.”

Here are the statements made by Perdo and Xavi after the match:

Pedro:

“In the first half they played well and they took the lead, but after that we were the better side.”

“Despite Real Madrid’s result against Espanyol, we knew that we were in for a tough match.”

“I’m very thankful for the support I get from the fans, it helps me work hard.”

Xavi:

“Atlético defend really well, it was very difficult for us.”

“We are the leaders and we know that we have a big advantage.”

“We’re in a good situation, but this isn’t over and we cannot allow ourselves to relax.”