Luis Enrique: Real Sociedad were superior

It was another tough night at Anoeta for FC Barcelona as they were held to a 1-1 draw against an impressive Real Sociedad.

Manager Luis Enrique gave his thoughts on the match soon after the final whistle, admitting that Eusebio’s men were the better side and that a point was a good result:

“If we look at the result it is the best of the season. The opponents were far superior,” the manager conceded.

"Football is so capricious that even we could have won with Denis’ chance, but it would not have been just."

“Most teams try to get the better of us by defending but they played a good game, trying to play with the ball, and they deserved the three points.”

“In the second half, the game was more even, but not enough to compete for the match. The opponents pressed with six players in our own half which made it difficult to get out. And there were infinite duels which we did not win.”

"We are in Week 13, you can't discount the champions from the past two seasons. There is still a long way to go"

Gerard Piqué

Gerard Piqué agrees with his manager Gerard Piqué echoed the words of Luis Enrique after the game, saying that “we have to give credit to La Real, they played a magnificent game”.

“They did not allow us to play our game with their high pressing,” the Catalan defender noted. Piqué looked to be in some pain from the first half, and hopes we will be fit for next week’s Clásico: “I hope that I can be in a condition to play on Saturday”.

He also sent a warning to his teammates, saying that “it will be difficult to win the league (playing) like this”.

Denis Suárez

"We have try to go all out. Today we were overwhelmed in the first half, and we corrected it in the second.”

“There are plenty of games ahead.”

“A draw is not enough, we always aim to win. Our objective is always to win.”

“In the end we managed to get a draw which could prove very valuable.”

“There are no excuses, we have been playing midweek games for years. No excuse is good enough.”

Jordi Alba

“The league is still open, many games are still remaining.”

“Today La Real were superior. We improved in the second half but they played a very good game.”

“When an opponent plays better we have to admit it. We aim to play a good game in the cup, before focusing on El Clásico.”

“The game against Madrid is one that we all want to win.”

“We struggled to get out (of the defensive third) with the ball because they pressured us well.”

“Now we can only wait for the game on Saturday and if we win we will be able to fight for La Liga.”