Barcelona v Granada preview: Luis Enrique relishes the chance to move on
Saturday 29 October 2016 18:55, UK
Saturday's La Liga visit of Granada - live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 7.30pm - will give Barcelona coach Luis Enrique a welcome opportunity to move on from a difficult week.
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Lionel Messi's match-winning penalty in stoppage time in last weekend's spiteful 3-2 win at Valencia proved the flashpoint for a hectic week, with a fan in the Mestalla crowd throwing a bottle at the Barca players as they celebrated the goal.
Subsequent comments from La Liga president Javier Tebas claiming that the Barca players had incited the crowd ensured the incident remained a central talking point and prompted the Catalan club to request action be taken against him and the Spanish RFEF.
"The declarations made by Tebas are irresponsible and unbecoming of a sports executive," Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu said in a statement.
"(Barca) will bring these declarations before CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) because we want it to see to it that if they produce violence they are punished accordingly."
Luis Enrique was clearly tired of the saga by the time his Friday press conference rolled around as he prepares his side for an important week.
Barca host bottom club Granada at the Nou Camp on Saturday evening before a midweek trip to Manchester City and former boss Pep Guardiola in the Champions League.
"I won't talk any more about the Mestalla," Luis Enrique said. "At the club we have a set of values that we try to convey. I am not interested in adding fuel to the fire any more.
"We aim to play football, not to kick or injure players. These are the values we try to transmit."
Barca's players do, however, seem to have been affected by the week with Rafinha telling Marca that they might opt to stop celebrating goals.
"If you can't celebrate a goal like the one at Mestalla, then Barcelona might as well not celebrate goals anymore," Rafinha said.
"We are surprised at Tebas' comments, because as president of La Liga he should be protecting the players that are a part of it."
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Luis Enrique has a growing injury list to contend with, in addition to all the off-field talk, and knows he cannot afford to dismiss the threat of Granada, despite the fact they are yet to win in the league.
"The difficulties are the usual ones," Luis Enrique added. "We have to try to not complicate the game. It is a time of the season in which there has been a high number of injuries, it happens and you have to know how to manage it."
Jeremy Mathieu has joined fellow defenders Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Aleix Vidal on the sidelines, while goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen is also out.
Granada are missing Ivan Kelava and Dimitri Foulquier.
