Luis Enrique hinges Barcelona shock Deportivo defeat on PSG

Luis Enrique conceded that Barcelona’s dramatic 6-1 Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain in midweek made their LaLiga fixture at Deportivo La Coruna more difficult after they lost 2-1.

Barca’s stunning second-leg victory over PSG secured their passage to the last eight of Europe’s elite competition, 6-5 on aggregate, but they went down at the Riazor as Alex Bergantinos’ header won it for the home side after Luis Suarez had cancelled out Joselu’s opener.

And Luis Enrique believes it was immediately clear that Barca would feel the effects of Wednesday’s heroics on Sunday.

“Watching us in the build up to the game, it was clear that [beating PSG] would cost us,” the coach told the media. “We knew so beforehand.”

While Luis Enrique was determined that Barca expected a tough test, he asserted that only he and his players could know how difficult it was to go again after their sublime comeback.

“It wasn’t hard to come back to reality [after PSG],” he said. “Only someone who has experienced what we did this week knows what it means.

“Us professionals know how hard it is to attain each victory. There are no easy games. The teams at the bottom are more dangerous as the weeks go by. We have to have a very good run-in to fight for the title.

“We thought it would be a tough game because of everything that’s gone on. The last game can always play a role.

“Euphoria is always preferable to pessimism, but we were aware of the difficulty. I foresaw maximum difficulty. I foresee it every week, and after Wednesday, even more so.

“At this point of the season, against teams that need points, it’s hard. It was for us and it will be for any team.”