‘Barcelona’s Morale Fine After Malaga Loss’

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique declared on Monday that there would be no hangover from his side’s shock defeat by Malaga in their Champions League last 16 clash with Manchester City.
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Barcelona saw an 11-game winning run abruptly ended by Saturday’s 1-0 loss at home to Malaga and despite Tuesday’s first leg with City looming into view, questions about the weekend defeat dominated the eve-of-match press conference.
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At times Enrique appeared close to exasperation with the Spanish journalists’ line of questioning, but he said that one bad result should not overshadow the sparkling displays that had come before.
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“I don’t see why the team should be down after such a great run of victories,” said the former Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielder.
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“We didn’t do things right at the weekend, we committed a few errors, and that’s why we lost. We need to keep on doing things like we have been.”
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He added: “I’d take losing one game and winning the next 12. Morale is fine. No-one is too down about it.”
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Reports emerged last year of a rift between Enrique and star player Lionel Messi, but when asked how his relationship with the players was now, the coach replied: “Same as ever.”
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Enrique’s words were echoed by defender Gerard Pique, on his return to the city where he spent four years playing for City’s cross-town rivals Manchester United.
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“There are no problems between us and the manager,” said the Spain international.
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“We get on fine, the relationship is good. We just came off 11 wins on the bounce. We don’t need to worry about it (the Malaga defeat) anymore. It’s behind us now.
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“We know what we have to do. We have shown in the past how we can play here. A good result is the best way to show people the team is just how it was three days ago.”