The BATE Borisov midfielder says he is solely to blame for failing at Camp Nou ahead of next week’s Champions League clash against his former club.
Aliaksandr Hleb has admitted he behaved “like a child” during his time at Barcelona and was “always fighting” with his manager Pep Guardiola .
The Belarussian joined the club from Arsenal in 2008 for £11.8 million, but was eventually released in 2012 after loan spells in Germany and England.
And despite winning the treble in his lone season in the Barca first team, he has blamed himself for failing to live up to expectations at Camp Nou.
“I was always fighting with Guardiola,” he told Catalunya Radio . “I didn’t used to listen to him, he would say to take Spanish classes to integrate myself into the team, but I wouldn’t do them.
“[Pep and I] would shout at each other. He expected one thing from me and I would’t do it and the way with which I would say ‘no’ was like a child. My judgement was clouded and I ignored him.
“It was my fault I didn’t continue at Barça, it was to do with my character. I was stressed because I had problems in my private life.”
However, the 34-year-old says he has no regrets about signing for the club and cherishes the “fantastic experience” of playing with the likes of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o.
“Nobody could beat that Barca side, they were unstoppable,” he remembered. “I think that they played better football than the current side.”
Hleb – who now plays for BATE Borisov – faces a race to be fit in time for the club’s Champions League clash with Barca on October 20.