Barcelona were forced to battle to secure their place in the Copa del Rey last 16 according to Xavi Hernandez.
The Catalans looked set for a routine night of action as they headed to Aragon to take on fourth tier Barbastro at the start of their cup campaign.
Xavi opted to make a host of changes for the game, as Barcelona gear up for their Spanish Supercopa campaign in Saudi Arabia later this month.
However, it was far from straightforward from the visitors as early goals from Fermin Lopez and Raphinha were cancelled out in the closing stages, before the visitors got over the line.
A nervous night did eventually produce the end result and Barcelona are in the draw tomorrow but Xavi knows his team will need to perform far better as the competition progresses.
“We have suffered. We had a very strong first half, but it has been more complicated than necessary. We are in the second round, which was the objective”, as per reports from Marca.
Barcelona will learn their opponent for the next stage in the coming 24 hours but the schedule for matches will be confirmed in mid-January.
