Lionel Messi and David Villa each bagged a brace - and Dani Alves scored the other - as Barca cruised to victory over a Sevilla side who played the second half with 10 men following the dismissal of Abdoulay Konko on the stroke of half-time.

The win saw Barca stay within a point of league leaders Real Madrid after Jose Mourinho's side came from behind to beat Hercules 3-1 immediately before this match.

With Valencia only drawing 1-1 at home to bottom club Zaragoza in the early match, the Primera Division already seems to be turning into a two-horse race, but Guardiola believes all of the teams in the league represent a difficult test for his side.

"All I can say is that it is hard to go to Zaragoza, to go to Sevilla, to go to Hercules, to Valencia. They are good teams that are hard to beat and you have to be at your best to beat them," he said.

"We have lost five points at home this season, so that shows how difficult it can be."

Sevilla have been one of the top sides in Spain in recent seasons, but the Andalusians offered little resistance tonight.

"We played a complete match and I am very happy with the players," Guardiola said.

"But the early goal helped us," he admitted.

That was scored by Messi after four minutes and Barca never looked back.

Villa scored a fine second halfway through the first period and also bagged the fifth of the night right at the end to bring his recent goal drought to an end.

"We never doubted him," Guardiola said.

"He has played for Sporting (Gijon), for Zaragoza, for Valencia, and scored goals for all of them, so we knew his signing was a guarantee."

The Barca coach was also pleased with Alves, who pounced on a poor headed back-pass from Ndri Romaric to score an opportunistic third for the Catalans.

"He scored a great goal. He has great intensity and great stamina. He has shown that since he has been here and he is a very important player for us," he said.

Most satisfying of all for Guardiola, however, was the return of Xavi following the midfielder's recovery from an Achilles injury.

The Spain star was withdrawn after an hour, but Guardiola says he is in perfect shape for Tuesday's Champions League match away to FC Copenhagen.

"He has come through fantastically well," the coach said.

"I spoke to him and he said he felt great. No problems at all. The physiotherapists have worked for so many hours with him and they have done a great job with him, as have the doctors.

"He is feeling good and that's great news for us - he will be ready for Tuesday."