Neymar not Barcelona's penalty taker, Messi is - Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique has stressed that Lionel Messi remains Barcelona 's first-choice penalty taker, despite Neymar taking over in their 3-1 Copa del Rey win over Villarreal on Wednesday.

Barca moved a step closer to their fourth Copa final in five years with home success in the first leg of their semi-final.


Lionel Messi put the Catalans into a 41st-minute lead only for Villarreal's Manu Trigueros to stun a sparse Camp Nou with a brilliant effort from distance just after half-time.

Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique scored shortly afterwards in an action-packed second half, though, while Barca also missed the chance to score a fourth as Neymar's penalty was saved by Sergio Asenjo.

"We make a list of penalty takers but they then decide," Barca coach Luis Enrique told reporters after the match in his press conference.
"Leo has always been our penalty taker and Neymar second. I assume they spoke and I had full confidence."

Gerard Pique picked up plenty of praise for his goalscoring performance and his coach thinks there are few defenders as good as the Spain international.

"Pique's performance was very good," Luis Enrique said. "He is a vital player and I did not know that he has now scored five goals this season.
"Defensively, he is one of the best players at this level."

Luis Enrique believes that Marcelino's men were more guarded in Wednesday's game than when they went close to denying Barca all three points in the league at the start of February, and was overall pleased with how his players bagged their 10th consecutive triumph in all competitions.

"The game had a lot of characteristics from what we saw in the Liga match," he added. "Villarreal were much more defensive than they were in La Liga, when they were searching for a positive result.

"They played with 10 guys on the edge of the area. We tried to create danger for them, down the wings and from outside of the box, and pressed well to avoid the counterattack.

"I think we’ve played a good game against opponents who sat much deeper and the result is a good one for us. The fact we missed a penalty gives the feeling that it could have been better but I think it is a good result. We will go to El Madrigal to attack and win the match.

"We have been in good form throughout the season but we can still improve in all aspects of our game."

Villarreal host Barca in the return leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday March 4, with the winner to face either Athletic or Espanyol.