Luis Enrique graded Barcelona a “B+” after their goalless draw with Malaga on Saturday but insisted “I’m delighted with Paco Alcacer and the team”.
Barca were without the banned Luis Suarez and late pull-out Lionel Messi against Malaga and did not make any of their 28 attempts count, while Alcacer – still without a goal for the Catalans – reportedly failed to touch the ball for 31 minutes of the first half.
“I’d give the team a B+,” the Coach said after the game.
“For our chances and the game we played, we were far superior to our opponents, we created chances, but then you have to score.
“If you don’t score, you don’t deserve to win the game. If you have 28 shots and no goals then you need to have 38 shots.
“This result has nothing to do with Alaves [the 1-0 defeat]. If I was critical then, I’m not now because we had chances and tried until the final whistle against a very withdrawn team.
“We didn’t get the prize that we deserved. There was only one team on the pitch and I can only congratulate my players.
“Now we must improve and pick ourselves up, there’s nothing else we can do.
“We dropped points on a day when we expected our rivals to do the same because they faced each other. The truth is that we didn’t count on dropping these two points.
“There are no two years identical. When a team do everything that they have to do, only constructive criticism can be made, but I’m delighted with my team’s performance.
“Alcacer? He was on the entire team’s level, but I repeat what I’ve said several times. The Coca-Cola formula doesn’t exist, a player needs many minutes to start scoring goals for Barca.
“I’m delighted with him. Here, we don’t ask impossible things of players in certain situations. I’m delighted with Alcacer and the team.
“Referees? I won’t enter the debate. Malaga will have their opinion and we’ll have another, but that’s it.
“Pique? It’s good to have players back. In his case, these 90 minutes will have served him well in terms of his sharpness.
“Messi? We’ve lost with or without Messi, it’s squads that win trophies.
“For him to miss a match, he has to be very poorly, but it’s nothing serious, it’s common these days and he’s already recovering.
“How beautiful are these international games, eh?”
