Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was unhappy with his side's performance despite seeing Barcelona go five points clear at the top of the Primera Liga with a 2-0 win away to Xerez.

Goals from Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovich in the first and last minute of the second half gave Barca the points against the side bottom of the table.

However, after making several changes to the team that had beaten Real Madrid at the weekend, Guardiola was unhappy at a disjoined performance.

"It was really hard work for us and it was a dangerous game for us until the last minute," he said on the club website on Wednesday morning.

"We won, but we were not at our usual level of play. It' s normal because we have just played two tense matches against Real Madrid and Inter Milan," said the Barca coach.

Guardiola also explained his decision to rest players such as Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol.

"I wanted players with fresh legs and clear heads on the pitch. There will be games like this during the season, but I am not going to reproach the team, which worked hard."

"Sometimes it's difficult to be motivated when you play the side bottom of the table and you've just faced Real Madrid and the Italian Champions," he concluded.