considering the statement in what you have said about himself (madara) saying it. Remember also that "he would have taught Hashirama how to resurrect himself if he had known how much weaker the modern day shinobi would be compared to them".
means that he has an edge/intelligence compare to hashi, and on that battle, it is also stated that to acquired his skills, I dont think right now he(hashi) can destroy edo madara+rinnegan+wood style+demon statue outer path+unlimited chakra+immortal...................or perhaps he is just honoring the death of hashirama, we dont know hashiramas death, maybe it is also skip that madara himself killed hashirama