Listen to the full interview above via the Off The Ball Football Show podcast
It wasn't vintage Barcelona but they still got the job done against a ten-man Manchester City to put one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals.
And with Barca still top of La Liga on goal difference, our European football correspondent Graham Hunter reckons manager Tata Martino should get far more credit than he is currently receiving.
"There are branches of the Spanish football media that are excellent and analytical and right about football. But there are also branches which are equal to the worst and laziest of the red tops anywhere else in the world," said Graham who believes that every defeat has been used as a stick to beat him with.
"There's been a sniffy attitude taken to him from the start because he's not from "in-house". And the idea that he wants to catch opposition teams out with 35 or 40 metre diagonal balls was received with hostility."
Graham was impressed by the way in which Martino took Xavi's concerns on board in regard to the need to revert back to parts of the tiki taka of old.
"You can be accused of being weak by listening to your players. He did listen and they were delighted. The football has improved and over the last four games - Sevilla, Real Socidead, Rayo Vallecano and Manchester City - Barcelona have begun to resemble what they were under Pep Guardiola. Not identical but much more similar to it and at this stage of the season, his 40 game total is equal to or better than Guardiola's 40 games in all four seasons."
But Graham does believe that there is a "less vigorous application of positional play" under Martino due to natural changes within the squad.
Graham also likes what Carlo Ancelotti is doing at Real Madrid with his 4-3-3 formation which is bringing the best out of Luka Modric, Di Maria, Jese, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, while also adding defensive solidity.
Graham also tips Real to be a real danger in the Champions League because they are "better balanced" than at any time in recent years.
