Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Unspectacular’ Barca still too good – Iniesta

By AFP
07 February 2016   |   2:35 pm
Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta admitted the European champions were far from their brilliant best despite taking another step towards retaining their La Liga title with a 2-0 win at bottom of the table Levante on Sunday. David Navarro's first-half own goal and Luis Suarez's 36th goal of the season deep into stoppage time sealed Barca's…
Andres Iniesta

PHOTO: express uk

Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta admitted the European champions were far from their brilliant best despite taking another step towards retaining their La Liga title with a 2-0 win at bottom of the table Levante on Sunday.

David Navarro’s first-half own goal and Luis Suarez’s 36th goal of the season deep into stoppage time sealed Barca’s 10th consecutive win to move three points clear of Atletico Madrid with a game in hand at the top of the table.

Victory also extended Barca’s unbeaten run in all competitions to 28 games, matching the previous club record set by Pep Guardiola’s side in 2010/11.

“Perhaps it wasn’t a spectacular game,” Iniesta told Canal Plus.

“But they are three important points and it was very important for us not to drop points here.”

Wednesday’s 7-0 thrashing of Valencia aside, Barca have begun to show signs of fatigue in recent weeks after an already gruelling schedule this season as they remain on track to repeat their treble triumph of Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey from last season.

However, coach Luis Enrique defended his side’s display given windy conditions at the Ciudad de Valencia.

“It was a complete game for our part. If it hadn’t been, we would have had trouble finishing the game off.

“The team did everything necessary given the circumstances of the game to try and win it from the start.

“I think it was a fair result given what we saw. The second-half was a lot more easy-going for us.”

Victory was Enrique’s 80th in 100 games since taking charge of Barca in 2014 – nine more than Guardiola managed in his first 100 games as Barca boss.

However, Enrique insisted he is more interested in matching Guardiola as Barca’s most successful ever coach when it comes to trophies after he won 14 in a glorious four-year spell between 2008 and 2012.

“More than statistics, I am interested in the collective objectives that we have and we can only reach them at the end of the season,” said Enrique.

“We are very well-positioned in all competitions, but there is a long way to go.”

0 Comments