“I’m sad about Messi but the team did what they had to do”

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Luis Enrique: “I don’t like the expression ‘surviving until January. It’s a test and motivation for the team”.

“I am always sad when a player suffers and injury and more so when it’s Messi for the importance he has within the side. Whenever there is a player out with a serious injury, what matters most is the team. We are a team and we will take this forward”, Luis Enrique said after today’s 2-1 win over Las Palmas.

Surviving until January: “I don’t like that expression. It’s not a question of survival for us. We could win all of our games then lose in January. It’s a test and motivation for the team. We have to accept the challenge and improve our performance levels because and we have the capacity to do so”.

El Clásico: “I haven’t looked at the fixtures calendar. I’ve only looked to see that we play Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday. That’s all that interests me”.

Bad luck: “That’s life. These things can happen at any given moment – and not just in football. When everything’s going well and flowing, it’s easier to perform to your best level. It will make us see what this team is made of. I’m sure we’ll see a positive reaction”.

Changing the team’s style of play: “No. We’re going to play the same as we always do. Messi helps us free up our game in many ways but we will have to strengthen the collective side of our game”.

Penalty miss: “Neymar takes penalties with his national team and with Barça. We’ll need to try to improve in that area – you can always improve”.

Valerón: “I greeted him and applauded him when he came on. He’s a special player and a special person”.