XAVI BACKS TITANOVA

One of the best players at Barcelona – Xavi Hernandez – has said that it is a pleasure to work with the current manager Tito Vilanova, who has been able to match Barcelona's best start to a league season in his first season as a manager. Xavi Hernandez has worked with some of the best managers in the world like Frank Rijkaard and Guardiola.

He has not showered praise on the new man Tito Vilanova, who has been able to get Barcelona to 12 victories and one draw in the first 13 matches of the season. This coupled with the subsequent failings of archrivals Real Madrid has meant that they have been able to open an 11 point advantage at the top of the table.

This has led to many believing that the title race is almost over. Many of the important players at Barcelona coupled with the manager have been quick to deny this fact. Even though Tito Vilanova lost in the Spanish Supercup to Real Madrid, he has been able to get Barcelona on course to reclaiming the league title from Real Madrid. Xavi has said that the transition from the Guardiola period to the Tito Vilanova era has been seamless. He is also extremely happy with the work done by the new coach.

"I have really good feelings about things. Tito is doing an extraordinary job and he has surprised us all with the personality that he has shown and also with the leadership capacity that he has. He has not changed much on a tactical or technical level and the training sessions are basically the same. Also virtually all the same people are present, except for Pep and so we are all very happy with things," said the midfielder Xavi to the official website of Barcelona.