Luis Enrique believes Barcelona cannot afford to take Rayo Vallecano lightly despite their utterly dominant recent record against the Madrid-based minnows.
The Catalan club have won all eight of the meetings between the teams since Rayo returned to the top flight in 2011, with an astonishing goal difference of 37-2 during that period.
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But Enrique dismissed the idea that fans should expect Barca to maintain their average of nearly five goals per game in tonight’s encounter at the Nou Camp, sending a reminder that his team have dropped points against lesser opposition during his time in charge.
Deportivo La Coruna, Malaga, Real Sociedad and Getafe are among those to have taken points off Barca in the last 14 months, and Enrique said: “There are no easy games in football.”
Referring to Rayo’s reputation as an attack-minded team, he added: “There won’t be one uncontested ball and Rayo always make it difficult for you, at home or away.
“If we aren’t careful in possession they can take the ball away from us. The key will be to command possession, because if we don’t they will create chances to score.”
Barca are desperate to bounce back after suffering defeat at Sevilla in their last game before the international break, lying one point behind league leaders Villarreal.
But they are still without two of their biggest stars, Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta and, with the versatile Rafinha also sidelined through injury, Enrique admits he is being forced to give more playing time than he had anticipated to players such as Javier Mascherano, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic, who have all just returned from demanding international trips.
He was also keen to shoot down rumours of a rift between his club and the Argentine Football Association, who have reportedly been exerting pressure on Barca to speed up Messi’s recovery from his knee injury so that he can play in next month’s crunch World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Colombia.
The 2014 World Cup finalists have made a poor start to their new campaign, losing at home against Ecuador and drawing with Paraguay in Messi’s absence last week.
But Enrique said: “These reports are just rumours. “I’m sure that the Argentine FA, Tata Martino, Barca, me and Messi himself all want him to make a 100 per cent recovery.”