Xavi insists European champions Bayern Munich weren't better than Barcelona last season. Bayern humiliated Barca home and away in the Champions League semis, but Xavi offers a different point of view.

"You have to look beyond simply the results and examine how the games went. They were forced to change their way of playing when they faced us and didn't play with their usual open style - they used the speed of their wingers, they pressed us well and defended solidly, but we dominated possession, they couldn't take that from us," said the midfielder.

For Xavi, the teams came into the match on unequal terms - something he puts down to the demands of the Spanish season.

"They were stronger and sharper coming into the match, but there are many reasons for that and the fact that neither we nor Madrid got to the final this year. The battles we have with Madrid really takes it out of us, it's not the same in Germany, they don't have that intensity of rivalry. This year's Spanish Cup semi finals were really hard and if we carry on like that it's clear that we aren't going to get to April or May in the same condition that they do."