Barcelona headed into the game with nothing to play for as they could not finish in the top two and their spot in the Europa League was already secured.
As a result, Xavi put out a weakened side against Viktoria Plzen and won 4-2.
Barcelona will now compete in the Europa League next year but their boss has played down their role as the favourites:
“There is still a very nice Europa League. Our goal is to reach the final and win it. I understand that they label us as favourites,” he said. We are forced to try to win the Europa League, but we saw last year that it is a very complicated competition. With the teams that there are this year, it looks very tough.”
On another curtailed run at Europe’s biggest prize, meanwhile, Xavi added: “The feedback is negative. This stage had its moments, and we didn’t take our chances.
“Bayern Munich and Inter did. We couldn’t win in Munich or Milan. This is the balance in the end.”
“He is bad,” he acknowledged. “He has hurt his hamstring. He has had the bad luck of an injury.”
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