Ivan Rakitic: 'Tiredness not an excuse'

Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has insisted that his team cannot used tiredness as an excuse following Sunday's 1-1 draw at Valencia.

The Spanish champions entered the clash at the Mestalla off the back of a trip to London during the week.

Indeed, Ernesto Valverde's side recorded a 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday to move onto six points in their group.

Barcelona are without a win in their last four league matches, however, and Rakitic has said that his team "have to be able to deal with a busy schedule".

"We know this is our situation, is not new," Marca quotes Rakitic as saying. "You have to be able to deal with a busy schedule, including travelling abroad but this is the beauty of football, it is enjoyable to play so much.

"Our performance was not bad, we fought hard against a team who are one of the best in the division and we were superior at their own ground.

"It is a shame that we could not translate that superiority into a victory and pick up three points that we would have deserved. We conceded very early but we recovered well."

Barcelona will welcome La Liga leaders Sevilla to Camp Nou in their next match after the international break.