Pellegrini: Title race is still on

Barcelona may be sweeping all aside in their quest to become Spanish champions for the first time since 2006, but Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini refuses to concede the title race is already as good as over.

Barca finished last season an embarrassing 18 points behind winners Real Madrid and 10 adrift of runners-up Villarreal, but it is looking set to be the opposite story this time around with Pep Guardiola's side in unstoppable form at present.

Sunday night's 2-1 win over Pellegrini's team left Barca on 41 points from 16 games, 10 points clear of second-placed Sevilla at the summit, 11 above Atletico Madrid and Valencia, and 12 clear of last season's top two Madrid and Villarreal.

That is the best start to season in Barca's history and Pep Guardiola's side are on course to break all sorts of records, but Pellegrini insists all is not yet lost for the chasing pack.

"I'm taking it game by game. Those who try to look beyond that are normally wrong. At least until the mathematics say otherwise," he said.

"Things change a lot in football. Espanyol finished third in the first half of last season and only managed to pick up 12 points in the second.

"The distance to Barca is not insurmountable."