Pep Guardiola declared himself satisfied with a point from the Champions League clash against an FC Copenhagen side he considers the toughest opponents he has faced in his reign as Barcelona coach.

Barca knew a victory in Denmark would guarantee their place in the knockout stages and the Spanish champions looked on course to achieve that after taking a 31st-minute lead through Lionel Messi at the Parken Stadion.

However, second-placed Copenhagen went down the other end and drew level almost immediately through Claudemir to earn a share of the points – although they survived a big let-off in the final minute when Barca substitute Pedro hit the post.

“I’m sorry we didn’t finish the job, but satisfied with our performance because there was a great team before us, who have a great coach (Staale Solbakken),” Guardiola said.

“Never as manager of Barca have I come up against such a tough, intense team.”

There was an altercation between the two coaches at the full-time whistle over the two-match ban handed out to Barca reserve goalkeeper Jose Pinto for gross unsporting conduct, the Danish club having reported the 34-year-old to UEFA alleging he imitated referee Stephane Lannoy’s whistle during Barca’s 2-0 win at the Nou Camp on October 20 in a bid to trick striker Cesar Santin into thinking he was offside.

But Guardiola preferred to focus on the match, adding: “We did all we could to win. We hit posts, but I’ll never blame bad luck. We were in control, we defended well and we just weren’t quite accurate enough.

“We had an extraordinary first half. It’s a shame they equalised so quickly.

“In the second half, they pressured us for about 15 minutes.

“It was a great match, open until the end and played in a terrific atmosphere.”