Trophies count, not records, says Henry

Barcelona set a new record of 50 points at the halfway point in the season with their 5-0 thumping of Deportivo La Coruna, but Thierry Henry says it will be meaningless if they fail to be crowned champions.

“If we don’t win the league, records count for nothing,” said the French striker.

“We haven’t won anything yet but are certainly on the right track. We just have to keep going and put pressure on our rivals.”

With 19 games gone Barcelona have registered 16 wins, two draws and just one loss to clock up a half century of points that betters the previous record of 47 points set by Real Madrid last season.

Real cruised to the title after racing out of the blocks in the last campaign and Barca hope to do the same and prevent their foes from notching a third successive league title.

“Records are good but we have to keep on winning and collecting points,” said Argentine Lionel Messi.

“I am happy because things are going well. We have points and good results. We are still winning and scoring lots of goals and letting in few, and that matters.

“We have to keep our feet on the ground, we have to carry on like this.”

Barca are 12 points clear of Real and Sevilla at the summit after scoring goals for fun in the first half of the campaign.

Messi, who scored the opener against Deportivo, has 12 goals for the season, Henry has 11 while Samuel Eto’o leads the way with 18 goals as Barcelona players dominate the goalscoring charts.

Barcelona have scored more goals than any other team – averaging over three a game – and have the best defensive record.

“The record won’t win us the title,” said captain Carles Puyol. “We have to carry on working. However, after losing to Numancia (on the opening day of the season) I never imagined we’d have a first half like this.”

Barceloan are unbeaten in 17 league games and coach Pep Guardiola admitted his team had set a high standard.

“It is not bad at the halfway stage,” said the former Spain international. “We have lots of points, only been beaten once and scored lots of goals. The first half of the season has gone well and we can be happy with that.

“Now we want the same in the second half. The record will only be remarkable if we end up as champions.

“The fans will remember this (record) forever if we win the league, but if we don’t it’ll just be an anecdote.”

Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure paid tribute to Guardiola who had no top-flight managerial experience prior to succeeding Frank Rijkaard in the summer.

“The manager is a winner and he transmits that to us,” said Toure. “After two years without a trophy we want one and so do the fans.”

Barcelona’s last piece of silverware came in 2006 when they won a league and Champions League double under Rijkaard.