Luis Enrique believes Barcelona’s 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday served to “reinforce the confidence” of his players.
Lionel Messi’s late strike secured an important victory for Barca, who continue to sit just a point behind League leaders Real Madrid, and Enrique was pleased his side extended the distance between themselves and “direct rivals”.
“Winning against direct rivals is a very good reinforcement for the confidence of the players and everyone else,” he said after the game.
“It’s important to keep away from Atletico Madrid and get closer to the position we’re looking for.
“We tried to play 3-4-3 with the intention of having more possession of the ball and control of the match.
“Our movement of the ball was very poor at first, but we benefited with our goals and Atletico hurt us once in the second half, from the only transition they had.
“In the first half, we found it difficult due to our opponents’ pressing, but it’s impossible to maintain that pressure after you’ve played in the Champions League the same week.
“We gained confidence from that, plus our difference-makers got more involved in the second half. It was a hard-fought and difficult victory.
“It’s clear that our change of system was a way of trying to make our opponents not know what we were going to do.
“We were better in the second half because in the first half, we lost too many balls, but overall I’m satisfied with these three points against direct rivals that are a bit off the pace. We’re continuing to apply pressure at the top.
"We went looking for the points and, in the end, we got our just desserts.”
