The Catalans exerted serious dominance over their opponents and had a host of clear-cut opportunities throughout the match, even so, the 38-year-old tactician saw the away trip as an uphill struggle.

"It may have seem like we had an easy game, but it was not easy at all," Guardiola said after the Primera Liga game.

"We had control of the game but in the first half, we took too many touches on the ball. We needed to be faster and we achieved that in the second half.

"We took the ball off them more and we moved it around faster and when we play like that, it makes it difficult for our opponents."

Leaders Barcelona are now on 66 points, while their arch-rivals Real Madrid lie second in the league table with 60 points.