They have scored 14 goals in four league games, but the Barcelona defender Dani Alves says the Catalans still need to improve.
Barca have won five trophies in the last six months, and that success looks set to continue this term with Pep Guardiola's men already seemingly well into their stride.
Tuesday night's 4-1 win at Racing Santander continued Barca's 100 per cent start to the league campaign, but Alves says the team can still step up a few more gears.
"We are recovering the tone that maybe at the start [of the season] we didn't have. Every time we are better, that's our objective," said Alves following the defeat of Racing, where Barca again had the points wrapped up early on after going 3-0 up in the opening 30 minutes.
"We had a great game," added the Brazilian. "We moved the ball well and created a lot of chances. We've also scored goals, which is the most important thing. The guys up front have done very well."
Gerard Pique, the Barca centre-back, also moved to dispel over confidence.
"The game appeared easier than it actually was. We maintained possession of the ball well. This is Barca, but we cannot think that we are invincible," said the Spain international, who did admit he felt there may be a gap between his side and big-spending Real Madrid compared to the rest of the division.
"We've started well and we hope to continue winning. It seems that Barca and Madrid are playing at a different level," he said.
Leo Messi was the star of the show, scoring twice at El Sardinero and setting up Zlatan Ibrahimovic's opener in the 20th minute. Messi made it 2-0 four minutes later and on 27 minutes Pique controlled Ibrahimovic's back heel to score a third.
Messi scored his fifth goal of the season in the 68th minute, drifting past the entire Santander defence on the edge of the area and sending a shot into the top corner before Oscar Serrano scored a consolation for Racing.
Meanwhile, Messi hit back over criticism of his performances for Argentina and said they would reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"We have to get together and go forward because Argentina can't stay out of the World Cup," he said. Diego Maradona's team, who lost their last two qualifiers 3-1 to Brazil and 1-0 in Paraguay, are in fifth place in the South American group, which equates to a play-off berth.
"I alone won't win a match ... this is down to all of us who are in the team," Messi told a radio station in Rosario, the city of his birth.
Argentina face Peru at home and Uruguay away in their last two qualifiers in October, looking to climb into the top four for an automatic World Cup berth or remain fifth for a two-leg play-off with the Concacaf's fourth-placed team.
Messi also denied reports that he and Maradona did not speak to each other, saying: "The relationship with Diego is great. There are no fights, on the contrary. When we started with Diego [as coach]we won all the friendlies, we played well. Now it's important to win these two remaining matches."
twoods@thenational.ae
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
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Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
The Breadwinner
Director: Nora Twomey
Starring: Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq
Three stars
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
AL%20BOOM
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Getting%20there%20and%20where%20to%20stay
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
OPENING FIXTURES
Saturday September 12
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Fulham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Leeds United
Tottenham v Everton
West Brom v Leicester
West Ham v Newcastle
Monday September 14
Brighton v Chelsea
Sheffield United v Wolves
To be rescheduled
Burnley v Manchester United
Manchester City v Aston Villa
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKinetic%207%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rick%20Parish%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Clean%20cooking%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self-funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Match info:
Burnley 0
Manchester United 2
Lukaku (22', 44')
Red card: Marcus Rashford (Man United)
Man of the match: Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
UAE SQUAD
Ali Khaseif, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Khalid Essa, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Salem Rashid, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Mohammed Al Attas, Walid Abbas, Hassan Al Mahrami, Mahmoud Khamis, Alhassan Saleh, Ali Salmeen, Yahia Nader, Abdullah Ramadan, Majed Hassan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Fabio De Lima, Khalil Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Muhammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani, Caio Canedo, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
