MADRID, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was critical of his side after watching the Primera Liga leaders defeat Tenerife 5-0 away from home.

    Leo Messi led the way for Barcelona with a hat-trick and his two goals in a nine-minute period just before half time paved the way for what was in the end an easy win.

    Carles Puyol scored Barca's second of the night and the scoring was rounded off by an own goal.

    However, Guardiola was unhappy at the way his players had struggled against a lively Tenerife before half time, when had it not been for the work of goalkeeper Victor Valdes, they may well have fallen behind.

    "Until we scored our first goal there was only one team in it: Tenerife," he said in the Monday edition of el Mundo Deportivo.

    "They could have been leading by 2-0 or 3-0, but that didn't happen. They pressed us hard man to man and when that happens you have to play longer passes."

    "Starting games the way we did, we are not going to do anything. We have to be more careful because all of our rivals are doing that now," he added.

    "After the 1-0 our more decisive players were effective in front of goal," said Guardiola, who praised Tenerife coach Jose Luis Oltra, adding that his work was magnificent.