Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 7y

Luis Enrique: Barcelona showed they 'believe in each other' in comeback win

Luis Enrique praised Barcelona's character as they came from behind to beat Valencia 3-2 in a game packed with talking points at Mestalla on Saturday.

The home side started the game in a ferocious manner, with Andres Iniesta forced off with knee ligament damage early on as a result of an Enzo Perez challenge.

However, Barca went into the break with a 1-0 lead thanks to a Lionel Messi goal. Valencia started the second half well and engineered a 2-1 lead before the hour mark thanks to strikes from Munir El Haddadi and Rodrigo Moreno, before Luis Suarez equalised in the 62nd minute.

An open encounter then flowed from end to end as both sides missed chances to snatch the three points, before Messi won the game from the penalty spot after the two minutes of injury time had already been played.

"How we've won says a lot about the character and the spirit of this team, despite the adversities throughout the game, such as Iniesta's injury, which is sad news," Enrique said in his postgame news conference.

"But the character is there. The team believe in each other and are desperate to win, but the objective is to do so without suffering so much.

"At the beginning of the second half we had a crazy five minutes and then we had some luck getting back to 2-2 which gets us back into the game.

"We lost control a bit at the end, but in the end the team proved that what they're about.

"It was a Valencia-Barca true to the tradition of this fixture, with tension, intensity and with both teams with chances to win the game right up until the last moment."

Valencia manager Cesare Prandelli suggested the referees in Spain favour the big teams.

More than the last minute penalty given for Aymen Abdennour's foul on Suarez, his complaints centred around Barca's opening goal, when he felt the offside Uruguayan was obstructing goalkeeper Diego Alves' view of Messi's shot.

"The result hurts, but the team has shown up today," said the newly appointed Italian, whose first game in charge was a win against Sporting Gijon last weekend.

"I'm upset for the players, for the fans... but we have played against a great team. But there's a phrase in Italy -- sudditanza psicologica -- which relates to the referees and the big teams. They have too much respect for the big teams."

On whether he felt the first goal should have stood, he added: "In Italy I've never commented on these type of things and nor will I do... but the image is what it is and it's very clear" that Suarez was offside.

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