Barca the best team in Liga, says Vilanova

Tito Vilanova believes Barcelona fully deserve the La Liga title, especially after their 2-1 comeback win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

Real Madrid handed the Catalan club their fourth title in five seasons with a 1-1 draw against Espanyol ahead of the match at the Vicente Calderon.

The Catalan side, who were welcomed onto the pitch with a guard of honour, fell behind to a Radamel Falcao strike and lost Lionel Messi to injury but still claimed three points with ten men courtesy of Alexis Sanchez and an own goal from Gabi.

Vilanova told the club's official website: "We have been the best team in La Liga, without a doubt.

"We knew that we had to win as many points as possible at the start of the season because big teams usually drop points in the first games of the year.

"When everyone said the league was already won, we were mentally strong to hold off a Real Madrid side that played an exceptional second half of the season."

The 44-year-old was full of praise for his title-winning squad and singled out Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Carles Puyol for extra praise.

He added: "These players have won nearly one-third of all the league titles in Barca's history.

"The hardest thing to do in this sport is to win after you have already won everything."

The win moves Barcelona onto 91 points for the season and with three wins from their remaining three games, they can equal the points record set by Madrid in the 2011-12 campaign.

Vilanova is confident that Barcelona can reach the record tally, but does have some regrets from this season.

"If we have a chance to do it, we're going to go for it," he stated.

"We lament the fact that we were unable to compete better in the Champions League. Next year will be even more difficult but we'll try to win it."