Barcelona coach Xavi admits he was impressed by Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

Xavi says he watched the derby as Atletico stunned Real Madrid 3-1 yesterday.

He stated this morning: "I did see the Madrid derby and it was a great match, especially for Atlético, with intensity and generosity in their work. It was a great football match, with a very favourable result for Atlético, it was a very important victory for them.

"I saw a very strong Atlético, simply, and their victory was deserved."

Asked about Real coach Carlo Ancelotti's questioned tactical decisions, Xavi replied: "I don't want to get involved in anything about Madrid or Ancelotti, whether he was wrong or not.

"I always see Madrid as strong and like each team has strengths and weaknesses. We will analyse it like any other team and we do not give it more importance. Now we give importance to Mallorca. When we play against Madrid, we will talk about it, but now we have not analysed it."

Nor did he want to comment at this point for having or not having a better squad than Real Madrid: "I will tell you that in June. They are opinions and ways of seeing football. There are 200,000 opinions and 7 million coaches in Catalonia. With my squad I am very happy, I don't like comparisons, they have never gone well for me."