Defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets has vowed Barcelona’s humiliating collapse at Roma “cannot be repeated” in the Champions League.

Ernesto Valverde’s men were humbled with a 3-0 loss in the Eternal City – nicknamed the ‘Romantada – to exit at the quarter-final stage, even after a 4-1 first-leg victory. This result stained a season that otherwise contained triumphs in La Liga and the Copa del Rey.

“We have to look at our own team,” Busquets told TV3. “We have to value what we have done – and winning the double is a good season.

“Everyone had what happens in Rome in their head, of course. It’s normal. It was a bad situation which cannot be repeated.”

Andres Iniesta has been a constant presence in midfield alongside 29-year-old Busquets for both Barca and Spain.

But the 34-year-old’s summer move to Japan’s Vissel Kobe has left a void at club level that his younger partner has admitted will be difficult to fill.

He said: “It will be tough to fill the space he’s left. But this is football: it happened with [Carles] Puyol, Xavi and keeps on happening.

“We have to work as hard as possible to make sure his absence is noted as little as possible. I have learned a lot playing alongside him.

“His way of seeing things, reading the game… And off the pitch, I have learned how to be a professional.”