FCBARCELONA.CAT
Main menu
Content menu
Football
21.12.2008 21:42
Record-breaking ‘winter champions’
Anna Segura
With three games to go in the first half of the season, Josep Guardiola’s Barça have been crowned ‘winter champions’. They have also made the best ever start to the League in the club’s history.
Winter officially began this Sunday and Barça have just been crowned winter champions. With three games still to go in the first half of the League season, the Catalans have the best record after sixteen games.
Best start
Plus Guardiola’s side have set a new record against Villarreal; the club’s best ever League start with 41 points from 13 wins, two draws and just one loss. The record was previously held by Frank Rijkard’s team in the 2004/05 season when they picked up 39 points in their first 16 games.
Since the introduction of three points for a win in 1995/96, no other side has managed to achieve 41 points after 16 matches.
Record breakers away from home
And the records don’t end there. The win at Villarreal
means that Barça now have seven away wins on the bounce in the League, the first time this has
happened in the club’s history. Their other six victims on the road have been Seville,
Recreativo, Malaga, Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol and Sporting Gijón.
Reversing the trend
Barça has also won at El Madrigal for the first time in three seasons. How hard it is to win away at Villarreal is shown by the fact that the Catalans have only done it four times in the last ten years, today’s result included. The last time Barça beat the Yellow Submarine away from Camp Nou was in the 2005-06 season when they won two nil.
Txiki: "Title doesn’t mean much"
Txiki Begiristain admits that the title of winter champions “is nice but it doesn’t
mean much". Barça’s technical director is still wary and thinks the chance to increase the
Catalans’ lead at the top is more important.
He also denied that the club has received an offer from Betis to take Martín Cáceres on loan. “They haven’t asked for it and neither has the player,” he said. “We aren’t going to make someone available in the January transfer window just because he’s playing less than expected."
He also denied that the club has received an offer from Betis to take Martín Cáceres on loan. “They haven’t asked for it and neither has the player,” he said. “We aren’t going to make someone available in the January transfer window just because he’s playing less than expected."
