Luis Enrique has rejected Barcelona’s favourites tag for the UEFA Super Cup, stressing what’s importance is how the match plays out on the field.
Champions League winners Barca on Tuesday meet Europa League holders Sevilla in Tbilisi and Enrique has spoken to the Press in advance of the fixture.
“We’re starting the season. Pre-season was interesting. I think we’ve had time to prepare,” he began, AS reports.
“This represents a challenge from the first game. In principle it’s two champions playing. [The Supercopa de Espana] against Athletic Bilbao will also be complicated.
“Each competition brings a more attractive challenge. We’ll see what we can do, if it’s more or less complicated, if there’s more or less to achieve.
“I don’t care for the role of favourites. Regardless of what others think the important thing is to prove on the pitch that you are the better team and make better arguments.
“The difficulty of playing Sevilla is clear. We have to do things right to earn the victory. We’re arriving at a good time.
“Sevilla are a club that buys and sells players. It makes it more difficult for their Coach. I think we’ll see similar lines and they’ll try to enjoy the game as much as possible.”
Enrique also discussed the forward options he has available in light of Neymar’s illness, new signing Arda Turan, and one of Sevilla’s summer arrivals.
“I would have liked to have all the players available all season. There’s too much talk about Pedro [Rodriguez],” he continued, touching on the winger’s speculated departure.
“There’ll be a solution soon because the transfer window closes soon.
“There are absences for both teams. I prefer to focus on what we can do with those players we have here. We’ll lose some potential but it’s a squad with a lot of players.
“Luis Suarez had a spectacular first season that very few could have had.
“Arda Turan? It’s easy to adapt to being a Barca player because it is a good group. Arda is affable and will quickly integrate his football qualities.
“It’s normal [Yevhen Konoplyanka, summer signing of Sevilla, wants to play for Barca]. He’s a player prominent in European football and it’s logical that he thinks about playing for a big club. He has great quality and taste.”
