The former Austria striker represented La Blaugrana between 1978 and 1981, but he admits the side recently assembled by the 43-year-old was‘much better’ than the one he played in.

"My Barca were from another era, but we also had great players like Neeskens, Migueli, Asensi and dribblers like Carrasco, Heredia or Charly Rexach," he told Mundo Deportivo.

"For me the best team I've ever seen is Guardiola's Barcelona, the second best being Cruyff's Barca. They were much better than us.

"In recent years I've always said that the club were a team from another planet, with Guardiola especially.

“Then under Tito, they were also good. Now maybe the team are tired or in the process of change. Like the Spain team, one cycle ends and another begins.

"Barca are adapting to a new Coach, but Suarez, Messi and Neymar are the three best players in the world and anything is possible, although clearly that’s not yet the case.

“The team have begun to catch up, but they're still lacking a bit.”

Krankl also paid tribute to recent record-breaker Lionel Messi, whom he affectionately referred to as‘Little God’.

"In the last five years I’ve always called Messi 'Little God'. Now perhaps he's not quite the same player as before, but that'd be impossible,” he added.

“You can't always be the same player. People change and so do players, but he has evolved and yes, for me he's still the best in the world.

"In my day, I'd say only Diego [Maradona] can be compared to him. Today, I'd say Cristiano is almost at his level but always just below him."