Barcelona suffered a shock thrashing at the hands of Liverpool in a pre-season friendly game and manager Luis Enrique admitted that it clearly was not the team’s best day.
A 4-0 result in the International Champions Cup is unlikely to create a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Spanish giants ahead of the new season. They are still expected to be favourites for the league title that they won in style last season. However, Enrique will be hoping to perform much better in the Champions League where they will face opponents even stronger than Liverpool.
One of the reasons for the defeat could be that Liverpool are in a much better physical status after having begun pre-season earlier. The English league starts a few weeks ahead of the Spanish league. Even then, such a massive score would not be expected when Barcelona step onto the pitch.Enrique will be looking to improve the defence before they begin their title defence. Before the start of the title defence, Barcelona take on Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup on August 14. The club also take onSampdoria in the Trofeo Joan Gamper as a final preparation. Individual errors were a major factor in Barcelona conceding four goals, butEnrique chose to look at the positives instead.
“It definitely wasn’t our best day. We made a number of errors. After the first goal we had chances, but then we let in two quick goals and that was the match.But as a spectacle, for the fans and the stadium, we have to look at the positive side of things.It was nice to see the affection the Liverpool have for Luis [Suarez], and it was a shame he couldn’t score,” said the manager.“It is clear that today we needed some more players back, to reach the level that Liverpool were playing at,” said midfielder Ivan Rakitic.