Pep Guardiola has claimed that Barcelona are still the best team in Europe after his Bayern Munich side were drawn against the former's Champions League conquerors Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals.
Barca's season has stuttered in recent weeks with three defeats in four games which has seen them go out of the Champions League and seemingly let both Atletico and Real Madrid back into the La Liga title race.
Guardiola, who managed the Catalans between 2008 and 2012, still thinks that Barca are the best, but he is wary of facing Atletico in the last four.
"I still think Barcelona are the best team in Europe, even if they've been knocked out," Guardiola told reporters.
"In my eyes, Barcelona are still the best team. They have [Lionel] Messi, the best player in the world, but over two legs it can happen that you get knocked out.
"Anything can happen. For a decade, Atletico could never beat Real, and then Diego Simeone arrived and everything has changed. I'm really curious about these games. They have the best atmosphere in Europe."
Bayern's director of sport Matthias Sammer has also highlighted Atletico's team spirit, describing the Rojiblancos as "passion monsters".
"It's going to be extremely difficult," Sammer said. "Atletico are passion monsters; honest and authentic, from what I can gather.
"But not only passion will decide this semi-final. That is going to come into it, but many other things like the stadium, the pitch and quality are also important."
The first leg between Bayern and Atleti takes place in Spain on either April 26 or 27 before the return leg at the Allianz Arena a week later.
Pascal Lemesre
