Luis Enrique refused to criticise his players after seeing his Barcelona team lose their 100 per cent record in La Liga with a shock 4-1 defeat against Celta Vigo.
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Iago Aspas struck a double to add to Nolito’s stunning opener with substitute John Guidetti adding a fourth late on after Neymar had pulled a goal back.
But rather than dwelling upon his own team’s shortcomings, Enrique preferred to lavish praise upon his former club Celta, claiming: “I’d rather lose against a team like Celta, who play good football without just trapping you.
“They are one of the most attractive teams.”
Celta are now joint-top of the table alongside Real Madrid after winning four and drawing one of their opening five games, scoring 14 goals in the process, and Enrique was prepared to admit that his team were outplayed in the first half.
Barca were punished by two goals in the space of four minutes from Celta’s in-form strike duo of Nolito and Iago Aspas, and Enrique said: “We suffered a lot in the individual duels. The first goal was in the top corner, but the second was a mistake of ours.”
The biggest concern confronting Barca’s season is the squad’s relative lack of depth, and Enrique only made two substitutions midway through the second half despite his team’s dire predicament.
Rafa’s Madrid have conceded just 1 goal in first 6 games this season. Barca have let in 16 in their 9 [all comps].
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) September 23, 2015
However, he refused to complain about the resources at his disposal, adding: “The squad is what it is, and I am not lacking anything. “It is my squad and I am very happy to have it.”
He also attempted to look on the bright side by claiming the loss will serve as a wake-up call to prevent his players from slipping into complacency, saying: “This result should serve us well, to know that in football it’s always difficult to win. Obviously after losing 4-1 I am not going away happy.
“We will analyse and evaluate the game, and it is a test of fire for us to know how difficult everything is.”
Victory took Celta briefly top of the table, but Real Madrid replaced them after beating Athletic Bilbao. Barca will look to get back to winning ways when they host newly-promoted side Las Palmas on Saturday before Bayer Leverkusen visit the Nou Camp in midweek.
