Barca would have provisionally moved six points clear of Madrid with a victory over Espanyol, with the capital club facing a tricky home match with third-placed Valencia at the Bernabeu tomorrow.

However, Barca had to settle for a draw from their first-ever visit to Espanyol's new Cornella-El Prat stadium, and it might have been even worse after the reigning European and Spanish champions had full-back Dani Alves sent off in the 62nd minute.

Espanyol, who had the better of the few openings created in a tight match, failed to make the most of their man advantage though as Barca held on fairly comfortably.

"Espanyol are are a very good team and I value this point highly, because we were against a great opponents who have a lot of spirit. This point will give us a lot in the future," said Guardiola, who was delighted with his team's attitude.

"I have a gem of a team. We've beaten Madrid home and away and we've only lost one game all season. We've picked up 84 points with performances like today's.

"The mood in the team is very good, because tomorrow we will continue being leaders.

"It's a pleasure to manage players with this spirit, who with 10 men for 35 minutes fought until the end."

Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who turned Espanyol striker Osvaldo's shot onto the post just before the break in what was the best chance for either side, added: "I've been left with a strange feeling. We've missed out on two very important points against Espanyol, who have played in a very intense fashion.

"It's been a difficult game and we need to make good this point."

Barca now turn their attention to Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg with Inter Milan in Italy.

The Catalan giants announced tonight that they have changed their travel plans for the match and will be leaving for Milan immediately after training on Sunday, as opposed to going on Monday.

That is due to the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland that has badly affected travel across Europe, with most of the continent's airspace closed.

Barca's board held an emergency meeting after the derby to discuss the trip to Italy.

The first choice for the club is to fly, either to Milan or to a nearby airport, but if that option is unavailable then Barca will look to go by coach.

Guardiola said: "If we go by road we will not have the desired recovery, but there are many teams in the Segunda B (Spanish third tier) who travel 16 or 17 hours by coach every week."