La Liga’s only team yet to concede a goal will go up against the only team not yet to score as Barcelona protect their 100 per cent record with a trip to rock-bottom and winless Levante tonight.
Luis Enrique’s team have been in ominous form in the opening weeks of the campaign, winning each of their three league games without conceding and adding another clean sheet in Wednesday’s Champions League opener against APOEL.
However, the recently appointed boss joked that he has no chance of lapsing into complacency due to an unusual source of pressure.
“My wife is very critical so there is no praise when I go home,” he smiled. “She keeps my feet on the ground.
“Praise weakens you and I want to be clear about something: we’re not that great at the moment, but neither will we be so terrible when we lose.”
Enrique is playing his cards close to his chest with his team selection, with his travelling party not being announced until this morning as opposed to the usual Spanish custom of naming the squad the day before a game.
He has plenty of options at his disposal, starting in goal where Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a solid debut against APOEL while Chilean stopper Claudio Bravo has been flawless in his three league outings so far.
Attack is another area where Enrique is spoilt for choice with youngster Munir El Haddadi threatening to supplant long-serving winger Pedro, but the Barca boss said: “I don’t think he’s overtaken anyone.
“Both him and Sandro have an eye for goal and give us important things, but we’ll see what happens in the future.”
Resting Lionel Messi – the only Barca player to have completed every minute of every game so far this season – is another option, but Enrique was equally evasive about that possibility.
“It will depend on what I see and what the team needs,” he said. “I’ll try to manage it as best I can.
“If I knew that by playing him constantly his performances wouldn’t drop then I would assess it, but as I don’t know, we’ll have to see.”