Busquets wary of Sevilla trip

This weekend it travels to unbeaten Sevilla and then, after a midweek UEFA Champions League trip to Benfica, Tito Vilanova's side hosts arch-rival Real Madrid at the Nou Camp.

Having already built up an eight-point lead over Jose Mourinho's men, a victory in El Clasico could leave Madrid's title hopes in serious trouble, although Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets insists it would be foolish to rule out the champion at this early stage.

"Nobody expected this advantage in so few games, but we are only at the start of the season and Madrid are capable of going the rest of the season without losing," the Spain international told El Mundo Deportivo.

Busquets is also reluctant to think too much about El Clasico when his side has a tough trip to Sevilla coming up beforehand.

Sevilla has picked up three wins and two draws from its five matches so far, including a home victory over Madrid.

Busquets said: "Sevilla is a very difficult ground to go to and the team is doing very well, as we saw against Madrid. With Michel they are much better, much fresher.

"They know what they want to do and it's going to be difficult to get the three points, although that's what we will aim to do.

"Regardless of whether Madrid are our next opponents, it's a difficult game."

Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic is optimistic his side can end Barca's 100 per cent start, saying on SFC TV: "We can win this and any game.

"We're playing the best team in the world but we're not going to make it easy for them. We know we can win this game."

Should Barca slip up, Madrid will expect to take advantage when it hosts promoted Deportivo La Coruna.

Madrid has had an inconsistent start to the campaign but it now looks to be clicking into gear after following up its stunning Champions League victory over Manchester City with a 2-0 derby triumph at Rayo Vallecano.

Madrid then thrashed Millonarios 8-0 in the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy, with out-of-favour Kaka giving Mourinho a reminder of his talents with a hat-trick and a man-of-the-match performance.

Mourinho admits the Brazilian and some of the other fringe players had pushed their cases for inclusion in the first team, saying: "Kaka and the others have done enough for me to think about them and have them in mind when it comes to making the squad list."

Barca's closest challenger at the top of the table is a side from the capital, but it is Atletico showing its neighbour the way with a hugely impressive opening few weeks.

Atletico, inspired by Radamel Falcao who leads the scoring charts with seven goals, is two points adrift of Barca as it seeks a fifth successive league win when it travels to second-bottom Espanyol.

Third-placed Real Mallorca travels to Getafe while fourth-placed Malaga, which is level with Mallorca and Sevilla on 11 points, is at home to Andalusian rival Real Betis.

In other games, Real Sociedad takes on Basque rival Athletic Bilbao, Valencia hosts Real Zaragoza, Celta Vigo goes to Granada and bottom side Osasuna meets Levante.