Luis Enrique has defended Barcelona’s display against Valencia, as the Blaugrana escaped from the Mestalla with a narrow, and largely unconvincing, 1-0 victory.
Barca needed a number of good saves from goalkeeper Claudio Bravo on Sunday night to preserve the deadlock before Sergio Busquets scrambled home an injury time winner with the last kick of the game, and the general verdict on the game within Spain was that Barca were fortunate to take the three points.
Both the team’s performance and some of Enrique’s selection decisions have been criticised, but the under-fire coach was fiercely defiant as he underlined the difficulty of beating a Valencia team which had previously been unbeaten at
Mestalla this season.
“Three points didn’t just fall out of the sky,” said Enrique. “Nobody had won in this stadium but the team had faith and kept going until the end.
“We played against difficult opposition, who press in their home stadium like very few teams. We had some chances – more than them I think.
"We had some imprecise moments, but in general we played well, got our strategy right and controlled the game. Of course the
team must improve, like all teams in the league, but we are on the right track.”
In particular, Enrique was queried for his unexpected decision to field Javier Mascherano as a defensive central midfielder
with Busquets consequently pushed further forward, a combination which had never previously been seen and which only lasted
for 70 minutes before Ivan Rakitic was introduced and Mascherano returned to the back four.
But the former Celta Vigo boss was unrepentant, adding: “With Busi (Busquets) and Mascherano in midfield we were looking for more control to prevent Valencia from getting the ball through to the forwards. I like to pick the right kind of players for each game.”
Enrique has now selected 18 uniquely different starting line-ups for each of his team’s 18 competitive games this season, and he insisted he will continue to push the boundaries of tactical flexibility throughout the campaign rather than looking for a more settled approach.
“I am convinced that to get to the end of the season we need to use as many of the players as possible,” he continued.
“I have always done that as coach, and so far it has not gone too badly for me: I’m Barcelona coach.”
Meanwhile, a police investigation has been launched in an attempt to discover the identity of the Valencia fan who threw a bottle which hit Lionel Messi on the head during the celebrations after Busquets’ late winner.
Messi was harshly booked – supposedly for time-wasting – after seeking treatment following the blow, and police officers have been studying CCTV footage alongside Valencia club officials with prosecution a possibility.
