Both coaches look to draw positives as Barcelona win Clasico

Barcelona, March 23 : FC Barcelona coach Luis Enrique refused to believe his side had won the La Liga despite the 2-1 win at home over Real Madrid which puts his side four points clear at the top of the table with 10 games left to play.

"I' m no friend of percentages or speculations. There are 10 games in which 30 points are left to play. We are where we want to be, but next game we have to play in Vigo (against Celta) which will be hard," Enrique was quoted as saying by Xinhua on Sunday.

The Barcelona coach was delighted with the win against his club's historic rival and which comes just five days after they knocked Manchester City out of the European Champions League.

"It is a win with a lot of merit, because Madrid are a great team. We are content and satisfied and we could have scored more goals… It' s the only disappointment I have from the game, but I realize Real Madrid could have scored more in the first half," he said.

Enrique said his side had pressed forward for the second half and also praised Luis Suarez, who scored the winning goal of the game. 

"He' s an old style number nine… that' s why we signed him… for all he can give to the side," he commented.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti believed his side had been better for much of the game, but had failed to take chances to win in the first 45 minutes.

"I will remember first half where we played well, solid in defense and good in attack, in the end we played too many long balls," he said. 

"I don' t think it was a physical problem, but the last 30 minutes were not like the first half." 

Despite the defeat, Ancelotti was positive about the performance.

"We have to carry on with this idea, the team has done well. But now we are 4 points behind Barcelona, the league is difficult.

"We are not going to let our heads drop and we have to try and play for 90 minutes as we did in the first half," he said, refusing to give the league up for lost despite falling four points behind Barcelona in the race for the title.

"Anything can happen, but it is more complicated, our priority is the same: the league and the Champions," he insisted.

"We played better for an hour and Barcelona were better for half an hour, they are a great side and took their chance," concluded the Real coach.