Luis Enrique refused to 'add more wood to the fire' which was lit in Valencia
After a hectic week, the Barça boss refused to become emboriled in a war of words with anyone
Luis Enrique was asked up to four times about the controversy which has dominated the week following the scenes at the end of the win over Valencia.
The coach preferred not to fall into the trap of talking about the deterioration of Barcelona’s relationship with La Liga president Javier Tebas or the RFEF’s Competition Committee. The only thing he wanted to point out was the fair play award his team previously won in light of the criticism his players have been under for the way they celebrated the winner at Valencia, which led to a bottle being thrown at them.
The Barcelona manager said: “I refer to the announcement made by the club yesterday. Other than that I have nothing else to say. I’m focused on the football side of things and tomorrows game. We’re accustomed to an infinite number of controversies and this is just another one.”
Another question followed about the incident and he said that he didn’t want to “add more wood to the fire” and pointed out his players’ recent behaviour: “The only thing I can say about my players is each year we win the fair play award, we have club values, which are playing well and not trying to hurt other players. They’re values we try to transmit by word of mouth and on the field. We’re team with least yellow cards, we do sometimes commit fouls, of course, but we will continue to focus on playing and hopefully giving the fans good football.”
Then asked about the Competition Committee’s comments, he said: “I have nothing to add to the fire. I’m here to talk football. Everyone’s made their point, expressed their opinion. I’m focused on Granada.”
The final question then referred to Messi’s celebration at Mestalla and closed the press conference with Luis Enrique saying: “I’ve spoken about this enough.”
