Luis Enrique not looking towards title yet

LuisEnrique - Cropped

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is refusing to look towards the Liga title despite the 2-0 derby victory over Espanyol.

The Barca boss was quick to praise his side's dominant performance on Saturday, as first-half goals from Neymar and Lionel Messi put the visitors firmly in control at Cornella-El Prat.

Even after the second-half dismissal of Jordi Alba, for dissent that brought him two yellow cards in quick succession, they rarely looked troubled.

The result moves the Catalan club five points clear of Real Madrid, who visit Celta Vigo on Sunday, and firmly on course to secure their fifth title in seven years.

But Enrique is refusing to get carried away and insisted that his players will not be losing their focus either.

"You don't make a living out of looking ahead," he said. "What matters are points and those come from winning games.

"There are five left and they are all super-important.

"It is still in our own hands and that's the positive thing.

"Today was a difficult match because it's a derby and because of the opponent. We will approach the rest of the season the same as we have today. We won't change that in the most important stretch.

"I'm not worried that the players are going to lose their focus. We know that all matches are tricky.

"It will be difficult from here until the end of the season."

Luis Enrique was thankful for a fast start in the derby, as Barca scored twice inside the opening 25 minutes.

"The team keeps on growing," he added. "That was the best first half of the season in terms of dominating every aspect of the game. We had the ball in their half a lot and we pressed well.

"We moved it around well looking to score and we will be in a good position to win every game playing like that.

"In the second half, we were very good and we weren't made to suffer for going down to 10 men.

"We gave them very little to go on."

The victory over Espanyol was Barca's 12th in their last 13 games in all competitions and was a fitting way to mark the first anniversary of the death of former coach, Tito Vilanova.

Luis Enrique's men will now look to take another significant step closer to the title when they entertain mid-table Getafe on Tuesday.

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