Luis Enrique: Both teams will want to keep possession

FC Barcelona visit El Madrigal on Sunday at 8.45pm CET to take on Villarreal in the 17th La Liga fixture of the season and the blaugranas will try and get their first victory of 2017. The Asturian coach, Luis Enrique Martínez stressed: “Villarreal play well and create attacking opportunities as well as being solid defensively." Moreover, he predicted “both teams will want to keep the ball and dominate possession and this will be key.”

Below you can read some of the most interesting quotes from Luis Enrique's press conference:

• “We are coming into this game against Villarreal knowing how good they are as a team. They are the team who have conceded the least number of goals thanks to their coach's great work over the last few years. They are an attacking team who can score goals but also hard to break down and good in defence”
• “We want the three points and know we will have to play very well to get them as it will be a difficult game. They are near the top of the table and they do things the right way”
• “It will be hard as they want possession just as much as we do. We will have to press well and be reliable when in possesion of the ball. The key is to dominate the ball against a team like this”
• “In Bilbao we played very well and created lots of chances. The team deserved more and we won't change the way we set ourselves up for the next game even though we didn't get the result we wanted in San Mamés”
• “Anything that helps the referees and improves the footballing show and protects the players is something I am in favour of”
• “When you don't get what you want from a game it is normal to be angry but the players handled the pressure well”
• “There is a margin of error, but we aren't where we want to be. We need to win to put pressure on the league leaders and try and catch up”
• “Neymar Jr is playing well, he has always been very mature and handles all kind of situations well, I am sure he will score goals.”
• “We need to help the referees as it is difficult to make a decision in a split second. It is a difficult job”
• “The whole team had a very positive attitude in Bilbao. They closed space down well without the ball, pressed high up the pitch and kept their shape well”
• “There are teams who can cause problems by pressing high up the pitch but they can also sit back and pack the defence. There is no magic formula”