FC Barcelona News: 19 February 2012: More talk on Guardiola's renewal, Pique linked with England return

Turning to the matter of his contract renewal, Josep Guardiola admitted that he has been working on the planning of next season for some time. He insisted that he has yet to make a decision and that it was "a personal question that doesn't have anything to do with the Club". He admitted that he's better off at Barça than anywhere else but would like to have a little more time to decide: "It has to feel right for me. I can't work in such a demanding Club if I'm not fully convinced that I'll have the strength to do it. I don't want to do something if it doesn't feel right. The Club has every right to set me a deadline, which they haven't done, and I appreciate that. This is very demanding and I have to be convinced.

Real Madrid piled the pressure on Barcelona by taking a provisional 13-point lead over its rival with a 4-0 victory over Racing Santander on Saturday. Cristiano Ronaldo headed home his league-leading 28th goal after six minutes and the hosts played against 10 men from the 39th when Domingo Cisma was red-carded for handling for a second time.

El Economista has suggested United are one of the teams to have been put on red alert by Pique's removal from the Spanish champions' team and are interested in bringing him back to Old Trafford, where he played between 2004 and 2008. But they will face competition from their Premier League counterparts Chelsea, who are also looking to revamp their squad this summer under the guidance of under-pressure boss Andre Villas-Boas.

The hosts had the better of the opening period but went behind midway through the second half when Alvaro Vasquez broke the offside trap to fire past Miguel Angel Moya. Getafe were handed the chance to reply in the 70th minute as Thievy Bifouma brought down Miku inside the area and the Venezuelan crashed home the resulting penalty. Kiko Casilla denied the hosts a winner with a fantastic double save from Daniel Guiza and Jaime Gavilan, and despite having Ernesto Galan sent off inside the final 10 minutes Espanyol comfortably held on for a point.

Sevilla earned their first victory under Michel, a 2-0 result at home to Osasuna ending a run of eight Liga games without a win. The Spaniard, in his first home match was afforded a rapturous reception and his team responded -Gary Medel scoring in the first half and substitute Piotr Trochowski in the second.