Spanish club FC Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said his team produced a “solid” performance to beat French side Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League football tournament’s quarterfinal.
“We’ve been good while we had the ball, and in the defensive phase, and we were a solid side,” Enrique was quoted as saying by as.com after Wednesday’s match.
Enrique also emphasised that his team was unlucky to have conceded the goal and congratulated the players for the performance.
“It’s a good moment to congratulate the players. I think it’s a fair victory. They tried to create problems for us too, but it’s true their goal came out of a move where we were unlucky.”
Asked if they played intelligently, the coach said, “Well, there are a lot of adjectives. It’s one of them, but lots apply.”
The 44-year-old coach believes they need to avoid any “surprise” which PSG will hurl at them in the second-leg at the Camp Nou stadium.
“Those of us who live football from the inside we’ve seen it all. We need to avoid all speculation as well as any type of surprise,” he said.
Asked about what changes he would like to see in the game for the next encounter, he said: “We looked for a bit of everything. Gain solidity while coming back, win possession in the middle. I’ve lots of options and that’s always pleasing for a coach.”
“The strikers have the freedom we consider appropriate to balance the attack. We’re not interested in freedom without balance,” he added referring to the free movement for a striker like Luis Suarez who scored twice to set up the victory.
