Luis Enrique has insisted that “anything is possible” when Barcelona play ahead of Monday’s Supercopa second leg against Athletic Bilbao.
The Catalans were humbled 4-0 by Los Leones in the first leg last Thursday, therefore casting significant doubt over whether they can maintain their pursuit of a sextuple, but the Coach believes his side have what it takes to make history at Camp Nou.
“I don’t see my players convinced, but completely convinced [that they can turn the tie around],” he began at a Press conference.
“My team are aware of the difficulties, but they’re equal to a challenge of this magnitude. When Barca play, anything is possible.
“The game [at San Mames] was never a 4-0 defeat as we were excessively penalised for the number of mistakes we made.
“Our failure to score at San Mames hinders us a lot, so we’re not able to afford any more mistakes. If we concede a goal, we’d have to score six.
“We scored four or more goals in 18 games last season. That means we have potential [to stage a comeback].
“We’ll be calmer than we were in the first leg and, if we do things right, have options [of triumphing].
“[On the sextuple], a new challenge has presented itself – to achieve a comeback that no-one else has achieved – so that’s what we’re focusing on at the moment.
“If that also helps us to win another trophy, so be it.
“Seeing what they did in the first leg and the result which they earned, I guess they’ll try to repeat [their first-leg performance on Monday].
“Whenever we’ve played them, they’ve pressed us hard and left us with little space. I think they’ll remain faithful to their philosophy [on Monday].
“I don’t care if they’re tourists, I want everyone to come along and spur on the team.”