Puyol: Title not a two-horse race

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol does not agree with suggestions the Primera Division title race is just a battle between themselves and Real Madrid.

The two Spanish giants have shared the last five championships between them, Barca winning three and Madrid two, and for many this season is destined to be the same story.

Both teams have won each of their opening five games and already boast a three-point lead over third-placed Sevilla, while two of the supposed biggest challengers to the top two, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, are currently stuck in the relegation zone.

It is hard to look any further than Madrid or Barca to finish as champions, but Puyol insists that is not the way he is thinking.

“It’s not a two-team league. There are other teams with a lot of quality, I’m sure that we will suffer some slips and Madrid as well,” he said.

Puyol’s Barca team-mate Dani Alves echoed those thoughts, adding on his club’s website, www.fcbarcelona.com: “It’s not a league of two teams.

“Sevilla have won (this weekend) and you have to respect all 20 teams,” said Alves, who also insists his side should not become obsessed with what Madrid are doing.

“We don’t have to worry about Madrid, we have to focus on ourselves. The season is very long,” he said.