Exclusive: The truth about Luis Enrique's meeting with his players after Juve loss

“One of the most tense meetings we’ve had with Luis Enrique.” That was how the Barcelona dressing room explained events after the loss in Turin. For nearly half an hour, Luis Enrique dissected the errors which had been committed against Juventus, singling out more than one player for individual errors and making it clear he was not happy with the attitude during phases of the game. 

Three players came out of the meeting having been especially criticised. The first was one of his favourite players, Javier Mascherano, who was blamed for not having read the game and known what was needed from his midfield position. In fact, during the game you could see Luis Enrique trying to correct the tactical errors being committed by the Argentine. It is all very surprising given we’re talking about a player who has played that position throughout his career. In any case, Luis Enrique felt obliged to change things at half-time, restoring the order by putting Andre Gomes in the pivot position. 

Second in the spotlight was Neymar. The Brazilian has been ‘winding up’ his coach for a while now due to the incidents with his boots, changing them in games and even getting booked for meddling with his laces in Malaga. But the straw which broke the camel’s back came in Turin, where he was silenced by Dani Alves, didn’t cover in defence and left the left flank out of order. 

The third was Jeremy Mathieu. In his case the dressing down was public, as he did not come out for the second half. It made it clear Luis Enrique felt he was one of the players responsible for the shipwreck of a first half. He had to play as the third centre-back, but in the end was neither a centre-back nor a full-back, leaving spaces all over the place. His chances of playing from the beginning again may have been definitively struck in Turin. 

Someone who did not have an altercation with Luis Enrique is Gerard Pique. It’s not true that the Catalan had an argument with his coach nor that Luis Enrique especially criticised him for the loss to Juventus. What is true is that there were a lot of general criticisms for everyone after the game. However, there were no big problems with the defender. 

In any case, the meeting marked a before and an after for Luis Enrique and his squad. If he’s going to be killed, he’s going to take names as he goes.