Luis Enrique unsure if he'd bench Neymar and Messi again

"Football rewards you when you unlock the door and we did not have the luck or skill to do it," said Luis Enrique after Barcelona-s 1-0 defeat by Real Sociedad at Anoeta.

He added: "It is always difficult to attack a team that is as well closed as they were."

The Asturian coach, despite these justifications, believes his side didn't deserve to lose. "The domain was ours, although in the first half we didn't make chances, in the second we had chances to score," he said in the Anoeta press room. 

Enrique hailed la Real's defence and the work of Geronimo Rulli, the goalkeeper. 

The fact that he started with Neymar and Lionel Messi on the bench was the obvious line of questioning in the press conference and Enrique said that he based his decision on the players' prolonged Christmas holidays and their long journey back to Barcelona.

"After seeing the result I do not know if I would take the same decision," said Enrique.