Luis Enrique: I'd like to come back as Sergio Busquets
Luis Enrique spoke ahead of Barcelona's Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg clash with Athletic Club. Here are some of his key quotes.
On Wednesday’s game against Athletic:
“I'm expecting the same Athletic we saw in the first leg. Maybe even more dangerous."
“They’re going to need to attack because a scoreless draw will be no good to them.”
“Even if we hadn’t conceded that late goal in the first leg this would still be a closely disputed tie.”
“Our objective is to go out and win the game.”
On the race for the league title:
“We’ll all continue dropping points, that’s logical. It’s a tight fixture list, we’re not machines. We’re football players. There are going to be surprises.”
On substituting Thomas Vermaelen against Malaga:
“It wasn’t just him, it was the whole team that played poorly in the first half last weekend, you don’t have to pick out individuals. This is a team sport. I think Vermaelen is as confident as he has been all season, which is very confident.”
On the 24 game unbeaten streak:
“It means we're consistent, and if that helps you win titles then that’s great, but everything has yet to be decided. We’re still in all three competitions. We’re now coming into the key phases of those competitions. Whether we’ve won 24 games or 28 games or 15 games, that doesn’t matter.”
On the condition of the players:
“We’re playing a lot of games. Players are amassing minutes. I think we have a lot of resources and different solutions at different positions, but of course I’m concerned, we’ve had some very intense games. But that’s why we are where we are and we’re still in contention for the titles.”
On Mascherano being the only player who has played all five games this season against Bilbao:
“He’s a key player, just look at the number of minutes he’s played this season and what he’s contributed. He’s a top-quality player. He gives us extra intensity, excellent ball distribution, extra personality, he’s a very important player for us.”
On whether the team’s tactics change with or without Neymar:
“No. We play the same way. Obviously he has a certain profile at a certain position and that changes the way things go. Our philosophy doesn’t change; we try to control the ball and pressure all over the field. But, obviously, certain players make a difference.”
On which footballer he would like to be reincarnated as:
“Good question! If I was reincarnated I'd like to be Busquets. Tall, good looking, nice and a good player. I’d be happy to be any Barça football player, but also [my hometown team] Sporting Gijón."
