Luis Enrique played down Carlos Alena's impact after the 18-year-old saved Barcelona from defeat against third-tier Hercules in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Barca's reserve team beat Hercules in the Segunda B Division recently, but a heavily rotated senior side found themselves 1-0 down in the early stages of the second half in Alicante.
They managed to salvage a draw to take back to Camp Nou, though. Alena, one of five B-team players to feature in the match, struck home with his left foot from 30 yards to reach the 1-1 final scoreline.
However, Luis Enrique didn't want the teenager to get carried away and was keen to not to let the goal gloss over his overall performance.
"I'm satisfied with the goal Alena's scored, but if I got hold of him in the first half I'd have given him a clip around the ear!" the Barca boss said jokingly after the game.
"Positionally he has to improve certain things. We expect a lot from him and we're going to keep on top of him to ensure that he continues to progress."
Alena's maiden appearance for the first team came in the Catalan Super Cup in October, but this was his debut in official domestic competitions.
"I've waited a long time to be here," the teenager said. "It's been one of the happiest days of my life, it's just a shame about the result.
"Luis Enrique told me to do what I know and I'm grateful for the confidence he's shown in me."
The second leg will be played at Camp Nou on Dec. 21 and Luis Enrique may feel inclined to field a stronger side when that game comes around. He left out nine of the players that started the recent games against Celtic and Osasuna.
"It was not the result we wanted," Luis Enrique admitted. "The tie is not over and it's going to be difficult [in the second leg]. It's tough to close out these type of games.
"We've made a number of changes. In general the attitude was good. We can't expect that in two training sessions the B team players will take in all the concepts of our play, but I'm happy with the idea [of how we played] and the second half.
"But it is always difficult to create chances when there are so many players behind the ball. And when we don't have our usual forwards, it's even more complicated."