Barcelona coach Quique Setien admits they weren't at their best for a 1-0 win over Espanyol.

The Azulgrana scraped a winner via Luis Suarez at the Camp Nou to relegate their fellow Catalan side, but the performance was anything but convincing. The result relegated Espanyol.

"We didn't have a great game," Setien immediately acknowledged in his post-match press conference.

"We found it very difficult against the defence Espanyol had.

"They were very intense, very closed, and we didn't have the space or precision to move in."

Barcelona struggled to break Espanyol down and to get shots on goal, particularly in the first half.

"It was very difficult," Setien attempted to explain.

"They did a great job defensively.

"They had a lot of players gathered, so it's not easy with so many players there."