Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez on Tuesday echoed the club's president Joan Laporta's comments that the Camp Nou outfit are "back" following the acquisition of Manchester City forward Ferran Torres.

He said:" Are we back? Yes. We are working on that. We are working very well. The results are there to see. We are very close to achieving our goal of entering the top four to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League. We are one point behind (fourth-placed Atletico Madrid) and two points behind third (Real Betis). We keep fighting. Evidently, this is not easy. The situation is what it is. But we are working on it, yes."

Torres was presented as a Barcelona player on Monday after the debt-ridden club secured a bank loan to help fund the move for the Spain international.

On the pitch, and results under Xavi have improved too, with Barcelona just a point back of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid in the Spanish La Liga, in the race for qualification for next term's UEFA Champions League - although they did exit this season's tournament at the group stage.

Barcelona will next aim to advance to the Copa del Rey round of 16 stage when they take on third-tier side Linares Deportivo on Wednesday, and Xavi expects a "difficult game."

He mentioned:"It will be a difficult game. A difficult knockout stage match, because it is a single game. Linares (Deportivo) are a good team and they will feel extra motivated to beat us. They play at home in front of their fans and it is a tough stadium to visit. We have analyzed them. They are technically a good team. They know how to position their players on the pitch and their coach has been there a long time."