Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 9y

Luis Enrique: Luis Suarez still has many things to learn about Barcelona

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique believes that Luis Suarez did "very well" in last weekend's 3-1 clasico defeat to Real Madrid, but insists the striker still has much to learn about playing for the Camp Nou club.

The Blaugrana boss declined to comment when asked at Tuesday's news conference why he thought Suarez -- who jointly won the Golden Boot for Europe's top goalscorer last season when at Liverpool -- had not been named on FIFA's preliminary 23-man list for this year's Ballon d'Or prize.

But the former Barca midfielder did praise the 80 million-euro summer signing's first competitive performance in a Barca shirt, while saying there were things to work on such as his positioning on the pitch.

"Luis Suarez played very well, he did not give away possession, he created chances, gave the pass for Leo [Messi] which might have been 0-2," Enrique said. "He is a player who has been only here a few months, and has many things to learn, especially in positional play. You cannot pick up everything at once."

The Barca coach was also guarded when asked about press speculation that Messi had received an injection in an injured ankle in order to play at the Bernabeu.

"About medical matters you have to ask the doctors," he said. "My recommendation and my advice as a coach has always been that no player takes injections to play. But it is the player's decision, between them and the doctors, to accept the risks. What I do know is that Messi was fit to play."

The former Roma and Celta Vigo manager was more open when asked about comments from Barca's summer signing Jeremy Mathieu, who appeared to criticise the decision to field him at left-back on Saturday.

"I prefer when my players say what they think, but I would understand if I had put Mathieu on the wing," Enrique said. "But in Valencia he played at full-back. Every player has to do their job here. Jeremy can play at full-back or centre-back; if he is surprised at being played at full-back, then 'its lights out time'."

Enrique said he took responsibility for what had gone wrong at the Bernabeu, while saying that with hindsight he might have picked a different starting XI.

"I can see now more clearly what happened on Saturday," he said. "We have studied and analysed the game deeply. The first half was more even, but still far from what we are used to. The second half, after conceding the second goal, they were superior.

"Looking at it now I would change some of the players, but after the game it is easier to make the right call. I take all the responsibility for the defeat, the players' attitude was very good. With nine games gone we are still joint-top of the table, so I do not see the situation as disastrous."

The news conference was scheduled ahead of Wednesday's Catalan Supercopa fixture against Espanyol, which is being played in Girona. The one-off fixture is a change to the previously-played Copa Catalunya, which Barca have won in the last two seasons while fielding under-strength sides as other competitions were prioritised.

While squad and youth players such as Jordi Masip, Martin Montoya, Sergi Roberto and Munir El-Haddadi are likely to start the game, Enrique said it was still a good opportunity for the whole squad to move on from the clasico defeat.

"We are going into the Catalan Supercopa intending to win, there could be no other way," he added. "It is a derby and gives us the possibility of forgetting our last game. The DNA of these players is to compete and overcome defeats. The mourning period is over, I have seen the squad train very well."

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