Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola began to think ahead to Wednesday's Champions League semifinal return leg against Inter Milan after watching his side cruise to a comfortable 3-1 win at home to bottom of the table Xerez on Saturday night.

Goals from Jeffren, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovich kept Barcelona top of the Primera Liga table and allowed the Barca coach to think about what is needed on Wednesday.

Barcelona trails Inter 3-1 from the first leg and needs to score twice to have a chance of defending the title it won last season.

"We needed this win for Wednesday," said Guardiola in Sunday's edition of Diario AS.

"We had to work hard to keep in control, but we are now top of the table and there is one game less in the season. Now we have four days to prepare for Wednesday's match, which will be the most important of the season," he said.

Guardiola made it clear that his side would have to be at its best to stop a physical and hard-working Inter Milan.

"Inter will knock us out unless we show the pure essence of our football. I am certain that we are going to give everything and we hope the fans are with us so we can play a good game," he said, before highlighting another good season from his side.

"Even if we don't qualify, it won't be a failure and the players will never be to blame, because they have earned a lot of credit," he said.