Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has insisted that the Catalan giants are "not in a rut" despite their disappointing start to the 2021-22 campaign.

Ronald Koeman's side have lost both of their Champions League group-stage fixtures this season to Bayern Munich and Benfica, while a return of 12 points from seven La Liga matches has left them in ninth spot in the table, five points behind Real Madrid, albeit with a game in hand.

De Jong has claimed that Barcelona's issues are "being exaggerated a lot", with the Netherlands international confident that his side will be able to bounce back after the international break.

"It's being exaggerated a lot, we're not in a rut. The results are bad, no one can ignore that. You can note a negative feeling around the club, which makes sense when you have bad results at a club like Barcelona," De Jong told reporters.

"I'm disappointed, but I'm not down. It's good we have the break now, if we go back to Barcelona games after the international games I think we could return to normality.

"People are exaggerating when they say the season is already a write-off. We don't have that many fewer points than Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, and there are a lot of games left to play. So, nothing is lost, not at all. We started badly in the Champions League, but we still have every chance [of qualifying for the last 16]."

Barcelona will return to La Liga action at home to Valencia on October 17 before hosting Dinamo Kiev in the Champions League three days later.