Barcelona started out their pre-season campaign with a friendly game against Arsenal.

It surely didn’t look like a friendly fixture, as the Gunners put in an intense performance from the first minute.

Despite scoring the first goal of the game, Barcelona still lost the tie 5-3.

Speaking after the game, Xavi believed the difference between both sides was solely on the fact that Arsenal have played many more games than Barca.

It was just Barca’s first pre-season game, whereas Arsenal had played three games before this.

“They’ve already played more games. This is our first one. We saw positive signs against a more prepared opponent,” Xavi told reporters after the game.

“I understand that everyone wants to win, but I told Arteta that it looked like a Champions League match. The intensity that they put was too high

“Regardless of the result, my conclusions from this match are positive.”