Mikel Arteta conceded that Arsenal’s pre-season friendly with Barcelona became too competitive after Xavi Hernandez hit out at the Gunners’ intensity.

With just over a week until the start of the new Premier League season, Arsenal continued their preseason with a thrilling 5-3 triumph over the Spanish champions. At the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, goals from Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Fabio Vieira, and Leandro Trossard (two) were sufficient to secure victory over Barcelona.

And even though the riveting contest may have captivated the interest of both supporters and observers, neither Arteta nor Xavi appeared to be quite happy with their evening’s work after the final whistle.

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Xavi, in particular, was less than impressed with the intensity of Arsenal; so much so that the Spaniard even branded it as “not normal”.

“I said to Mikel at the end of the game that it means a Champions League game because the intensity that they put was not normal in a friendly,” the Barcelona boss told reporters. “But I understand everybody wants to win.”

It does seem like Xavi is a little annoyed that Arsenal were pushing hard during the game

His sentiments were echoed by Arteta, who admitted that the game ended up becoming a “bit too much”. He said: “It got really competitive for a friendly match. After the first tackle and the first goal. Playing in front of 70,000 fans helps. At times I think it got a bit too much for a friendly.”

Mikel Arteta admitted that Arsenal’s 5-3 win over Barcelona became too intense

Arsenal fans were treated to another glimpse of summer signings Havertz and Jurrien Timber, but the Gunners’ £105million record-signing, Declan Rice, was not risked after taking a “strong kick” in training.

After spending in excess of £200m on his trio of new signings, Arteta made it clear after the match that Arsenal’s focus going forward will be trimming their 30-man squad; a figure Arteta admits is too high.

He added: “Well, we have 30 players here which is unsustainable. Obviously, the market is still open and things can happen. We are prepared. I’m really happy with the squad we have at the moment. We have improvements to make in terms of what we want to do in games and we still have to do that. Overall really pleased with the team.

This summer, numerous Arsenal players have already been mentioned in connection with transfers. After scoring 21 league goals in France for Reims last season, Folarin Balogun is in high demand. Nicolas Pepe and Nuno Tavares are also expected to go.

However, Arteta has downplayed rumors of Kieran Tierney leaving the team and has claimed that the Scotland international is still a part of his plans.