Barcelona strolled to a 4-0 victory over Cadiz to temporarily go top of the La Liga table, pending when Real Madrid play Real Mallorca.

Despite the heavy scoreline, Barcelona struggled to convert their chances in the first half, as all four goals came in the second period.

Xavi has sent a message to his players on the importance of scoring in the first-half.

The Barcelona boss said: “In the first half, we didn’t generate as much as we expected. In these games, the key is to open the can. We need to understand the last pass, but in general, we are happy, despite not having an excellent match.

“It’s important to score early, but maybe we wore them down. It’s not easy to win a game in this stadium.”

Saturday’s defeat was Cadiz’s fifth successive loss of the season, but Xavi was impressed by their defensive solidity all the same.

Xavi said: “We knew that Cadiz are not going through their best moment, but they played a very strong defensive game, looking to beat us by their aerial threat. But we’re the deserving winners.

“For us it is an important victory in a difficult field. We had not beaten them for two years and today we have been able to achieve it.”