Barca players are not the worst in complanin to refrees, says Enrique

Who agrees with Mr Luis Enrique? He insists his Barcelona players "hardly protest at all" to referees during matches, Thegoalmac can reveal.

Barca have previously come under criticism for the way their players try to influence match officials by surrounding them and arguing over decisions, with Javier Mascherano picking up a booking for protesting a decision during Wednesday's 1-0 Copa del Rey win over Atletico Madrid.

However, the coach insists his side harass referees much less than most other teams.

“In terms of the protests of my players to the referee, if I look at other teams, my players hardly protest at all," he told reporters after seeing his side beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter final tie.

"They are very well educated. We could take a look at that aspect but we are by no means the worst. The referees understand that sometimes it is hard to accept an official’s decision in the heat of the moment."

Lionel Messi fired his side into the lead late in the game, netting the rebound from a penalty he had missed, to give the Blaugrana the win. However, Luis Enrique believes there is still much work to do for them to get to the semi-final, insisting they are only half way there.


"I see the result as very positive. We knew we had to be very compact and I didn’t anticipate a different match because Atletico are a team that defend really well, are very aggressive, very well prepared and that attack you well on dead balls.

"But with very good circulation of the ball and a very good defensive game, we managed to win.
"I’m very happy with the result, which is fair and allows us to prepare the return with optimism, in the same way we have this one and looking for the victory, although I would like to have won 5-0!

The return leg will be very stimulating and we will go there with the idea of creating many chances and not letting our rival create many.

"Knowing the rival and their coach and how they have done in the past few seasons, I still see it at 50 per cent, although whatever the result tonight our aim would have been to go to the Calderon and win the game – even though now a draw would be good enough."

The 44-year-old also admitted that he has not decided on a dedicated starting XI as of yet.
"I don’t have a first-choice XI or 10. I have a squad that I like to manage. My idea is to have as many players at my disposition as possible – nothing more, nothing less."