Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova admitted he had taken risks with his team in order to take all three points against Granada.
The Catalans secured victory thanks to a late strike from Xavi Hernandez and a Borja Gomez own goal, and Vilanova felt that when the game was goalless his players had to take a chance.
“We had to take risks as if we had lost we were losing the point we held at the time and I wanted all three,” he told assembled reporters.
“It possibly cost us a little in other areas but on the other hand you can wear teams down and they end up paying.”
The 2-0 win was Vilanova’s fifth consecutive success and the Catalan Coach dismissed an argument between Lionel Messi and David Villa during the first half when the latter failed to lay the ball off to the Argentine.
“It’s part of football and those of us who have played the game know it happens. I’m not saying I like it but it shows we are a team that wants to carry on winning,” said Vilanova, who pointed out that Barcelona tend to improve as the season develops.
“If we look at other years we can see that September is always a little hard, so it’s important we have reached 15 points.
“As I’ve already said, I don’t feel under any pressure or obligation. I knew the difficulty of taking over, as I ventured at the time, but I said I wanted to continue winning things. I don’t feel any added pressure because of what we have won before.”
On his decision to select Alex Song before Marc Bartra at the heart of the Blaugrana defence, Vilanova maintained it was because the former Arsenal man possesses more experience and ‘the only way to integrate him is if he plays more minutes’.
He also confessed he was ‘delighted’ with Cesc Fabregas’ performance and believes ‘he only needs better luck in front of goal’, before revealing he will not be watching Sunday’s game between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano.
“I’m going to make a paella, go the cinema and rest. I’m sure somebody will send me a message,” he concluded.
