Barcelona coach Luis Enrique pronounced himself pleased despite losing Dani Alves and Sergio Busquets to injuries in his side's scratchy 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Sunday.
Barca, beaten 4-0 on their most recent visit to Bilbao in the preseason Spanish Supercopa first leg, looked in trouble again after Lionel Messi missed a first-half penalty, but got revenge of sorts by securing the three points through Luis Suarez's second-half volley.
The blaugrana coach told his postgame news conference at San Mames that he was happy that his team had deserved their win due to a proficient all-round performance.
"We have begun the season at a very high level, like last season, and did not let them cause us any danger," Luis Enrique said. "We did our jobs well in all areas of the pitch. We created more chances than they did, although we had to suffer [at the end] because the scoreboard was so tight."
Barca lost both Alves [adductor] and Busquets [ankle] to concerning injury issues during the game, with a club statement issued after the game giving few details beyond both players being set for tests on Monday morning.
This means further headaches for a coach whose squad was already looking bare, after Pedro Rodriguez's exit for Chelsea this week, and with the FIFA-imposed transfer ban meaning no new players can be brought in until January 2016.
Luis Enrique said that Barca having to play both the European and Spanish Supercups, due to their success last term, had heightened the risk of early season injury issues.
"This is a contact sport and we are not having much luck, although they do not seem to be serious injuries," he said. "The preseason meant we had to compete very quickly, and there are more risks that this could happen."
Midfielder Sergi Roberto, 22, stepped in at right-back for Alves and impressed in both defence and attack, including when cracking a 15-yard shot off the crossbar during the second half.
"The full-backs are very important in the play," Luis Enrique said. "They were very good, especially Sergi Roberto, who played a very complete game. [Jordi] Alba also did his job well."
The Asturian coach gave short shrift to a question about the future of Brazilian attacker Neymar, who has this week been linked with an unlikely move to Manchester United.
"I am not interested in talking about rumours, or these type of situations," he said. "I just discuss my team."