Barcelona defender Daniel Alves has insisted that there are no easy games at this stage of the season.

The Catalan outfit needed a late Lionel Messi penalty to beat Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday, with that result keeping Gerardo Martino's side in second position in the table.

"We are ready to fight until the end," the 30-year-old told reporters after the game.

"We never lost our intensity, our rivals play football too – they are playing for their lives in this competition, it makes it all very difficult.

"Barca may not win all their games comfortably. Sometimes we can, other times we cannot."

Barcelona are in Champions League quarter-final action on Tuesday against Atletico Madrid.