Rijkaard blamed the international break for Barca's disappointing performance and said: "We needed some freshness on the field. The team was completely different to what we saw in Santander.

"We weren't able to work with the squad this week and that showed.

"This is not the image that Barca wants to show on the field. It doesn't seem right to me, because Barcelona are a great club with great players, but we must play better and present ourselves better."

On lagging behind Real Madrid by four points, Rijkaard added: "That doesn't worry me because it's only the start of the season."