FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was a relieved man after seeing his side scrape to a hard-fought 2-1 win away to Levante.

Barca's trip to the Ciudad de Valencia Stadium was always going to be tough against the side placed fifth in the BBVA Primera Liga and they trailed at halftime to a Jose Barkero penalty.

Defeat to Levante would have left Barca seven points behind Real Madrid and with few options of retaining the league title, but two goals from Leo Messi, the second from the penalty spot, gave Barca the points in what could well be their toughest away game between now and the end of the season.

"We knew that if Levante got in front, it would really tough for us," admitted Guardiola, but the entry of Issac Cuenca and Andres Inesta for us in the second half changed things and we finally got the penalty," he said in Sunday's edition of El Mundo Deportivo.

Guardiola confirmed that his decision to replace midfielder Xavi Hernandez at halftime in the game was purely technical and that Xavi had no fitness worries ahead of the Champions League, which Guardiola said was his first priority ahead of next Saturday's title decided at home to Real Madrid.

"I want to think about Chelsea, Real Madrid will come in time and we will have to play very well in order to beat them. If we lose that game the chances of winning the title are over," he added.

However the Barca coach was optimistic that his side could still make up the four point deficit against Real Madrid, the way things stand.

"The league is less impossible," he concluded.