Rakitic: In the rhythm we were in today, it's difficult to play against Barça

Barcelona earned a deserved and important 3-0 win against Juventus at Camp Nou on Tuesday, while the other game in Group D was won by Sporting Club against Olympiacos (2-3). 

One of the stars of the night for Barça was Rakitic, who continued his fine start to the season wuth the second goal in the win. 

"To be able to have a good second half like that, you have to work really hard in the first half. We fought really hard and waited for our moment and in the end it arrived on the [half-time] whistle," the Crotatian said. 

Barça have now won four games in a row in all competitions: "It's always important to start the season with wins. It's not normal at Barça to change manager, so now it's a new idea of playing and we can be happy with how these last few weeks have gone. A game like this [against Juventus] will give us a lot of confidence," the midfielder explained. 

Rakitic admitted the differences between playing with a fixed right winger like Dembele as opposed to Messi, who had more freedom to move when he was on the right last season. 

"It's a little different, yet, but the most important thing is the team. But things also went well with Leo there... When we work as a team, everything is easier. And if we get in the rhythm we were in today, it's difficult to play against Barça," he concluded.