Xavi claims Pedri is 'at the same level' of legendary midfielder Iniesta

Barcelona boss Xavi believes young midfielder Pedri is 'at the level of Andres Iniesta' after his starring role in their 2-1 win over Real Betis on Wednesday night.

Pedri was integral for Barca as they went eight points clear of rivals Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga - continuing his superb form after netting the winner against Girona last time out.

Xavi was keen to keep the 20-year-old's feet on the ground but couldn't resist comparisons with club legend Iniesta, saying he shared the same qualities as the man he played alongside for 13 years.

'He is a player who is on another level, I have seen very few like him,' Xavi said. 'He is talented, he is at the level of Iniesta, but Andres had a continuity to the point that he is still playing.

'If we compare Pedri to Iniesta at the moment Iniesta wins easily because he played for so long. For me he is the greatest talent Spanish football ever produced. But Pedri very good, he has a similar talent.'

The 2-1 win away at Betis means they have taking 50 points from a possible 57 and only conceded seven goals in the process. They are the numbers of a title winning team and the coach said: 'We were excellent tonight; it was a very good performance.

'We could have finished it earlier when Ansu Fati has the headed chance and then we conceded to make it more difficult for ourselves but we got the result.

'I'm pleased not just with the result but with the way we played. It was better than the weekend performance against Girona and I'm very satisfied.

'We dominated and we were calm on the ball. We looked to outnumber them in certain parts of the pitch and there were some brilliant performances.'

The Barça coach was so pleased with the display he made not changes before the 80th minute. 'No one deserved to come off,' he said. 'The attitude and the desire is there to be successful this season.'

Real Madrid now go into Thursday's game needing to win against Valencia to reduce the gap at the top back to five points.

It was a good night for Robert Lewandowski who returned from his three-game ban with a goal and for Alejandro Balde who set up the opener.

'Balde is one of the three fantastic left backs that we have and it's fantastic to see him playing so well as young as he is,' said Xavi of the 19-year-old defender.

His cross was turned in by Raphinha who added: 'The wins we are picking up are the result of the hard work we are putting in. We know we have to take our chances and we did that tonight.'