Luis Enrique Semi-Confident About Win At Calderon
By Laieke Abebe
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique is happy with the good result against Atletico Madrid, but believes that the team could’ve done better in victory.
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique was satisfied with the 2-1 win against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon in the Copa Del Rey Semifinal first leg. Although Barca got the right result, Lucho admitted that the second half wasn’t Barca’s best half. He talked about this and more in his post-match conference with the media.
“In second half we knew Atletico would have to attack and press higher up,” he said in reference to Barca’s 2-0 halftime lead. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored those goals 26 minutes apart to provide the only scoring for the team.
“We had more difficulty bringing the ball out and they made it tough for us,” Lucho added. “They got back into the tie. We had chances to kill the tie with a third goal — or could have conceded an equalizer. We’re happy with the result — it could have been better, it could have been worse.”
The Barça manager praised Messi once again. The Argentine was once again at his very best scoring a world-class goal from outside of the box. “In big games, special games, is when Messi is at his best,” Enrique said. “He showed his repertoire today and helped us to get superiority in the middle, but he was also dangerous up front. There are few terms of praise left for what Messi does.”
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One bad thing happened to Barca in the match. Neymar was booked meaning that he’ll miss the second leg at the Camp Nou. Despite that, Luis Enrique said that the team has enough depth to cover for Neymar. “If there is any team in the world who can cover absences, it is Barca,” he said. “Neymar’s a key player for us, but we have players who can cover in his position.” Arda Turan and Rafinha are names that come to mind in replacing Neymar for the second leg.
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Overall, the return leg will still be a tough one for the Catalans to handle. Despite their great performance in the first leg, they still have to see the tie out so that they can make it back to the final in a few months time. Luis Enrique has to make a good lineup decision to replace Neymar. Also, Lionel Messi must be careful as he is one booking away from getting suspended for the final should Barca make it. It’ll be interesting to see how the second leg plays out in the Camp Nou.