The Spanish top-flight already has two representatives in the Champions League semi-finals.
La Liga is not ‘far off’ the English Premier League in terms of quality, according to Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez.
Following a five-goal thriller on Tuesday, Real Madrid eliminated Chelsea to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals.
Elsewhere in the competition, Villarreal stunned Bayern Munich with a 2-1 win on aggregate as the Bundesliga giants crashed out of the competition.
Two La Liga teams have already secured their spots in the competition’s final four, with Atletico Madrid waiting to face Man City in another quarter-final clash on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Barca’s upcoming Europa League clash against Eintracht Frankfurt, Xavi Hernandez compared La Liga with the English top flight.
“Yesterday, I thought LaLiga isn’t that far off from the Premier League,” the Blaugrana boss said. “There is this debate about the Premier League being a much higher level than LaLiga. We have two Spanish clubs in the semi-finals.
“People say it is not difficult to play in LaLiga, but the Premier League isn’t far from LaLiga.”
Barca are in the Europa League quarter-finals, continuing their bid to secure a Champions League spot for the next season. The Spaniard admits watching UCL from home is painful but insists his side are ready to fight for the Europa League title.
“It’s not quite as highly rated as the Champions League but it’s a European title which we’re excited to play for,” he said. “The team is motivated and ready.
“We’re working to get back into the Champions League. Yesterday we had to watch from home. That was painful for us, but we must use it to motivate us to be back there.”
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