"Mourinho will never join Barca"

Barcelona stalwart Carles Puyol has rubbished the notion that Jose Mourinho will ever join the Catalans.

The Spaniard admitted that the Portuguese will never swap the Santiago Bernabeu for the Nou Camp, and also refused to entertain the notion of moving the opposite direction as well.

Speaking to Antena 3, Puyol revealed: "I would never go to Madrid and Mourinho would never come back to Barcelona. It would be very difficult for him to come here."

The central defender did give compliment to their arch-rivals as their chief competition in La Liga and Europe.

"There has always been rivalry between us. I think both [Real Madrid and Barcelona] are the best teams in Europe and they are favourites to win all titles", he said.

Puyol also gave an insight towards what keeps him going in the game.

"I want to keep enjoying this and keep winning, which is the best thing there is," he added.

"I'm still as passionate and as excited as ever. If I wasn't a professional footballer I would play football in my village. I feel very lucky."

Barcelona are currently atop the La Liga standings, and will face Racing Santander on Saturday.