Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 7y

Neymar scores 100th Barcelona goal; Luis Enrique hopes for 'another 900'

Luis Enrique celebrated Neymar's 100th goal for Barcelona by saying he hopes the Brazilian striker scores 900 more.

Neymar fired home Barcelona's fourth in their 4-1 win at Granada on Sunday and it earned him a personal milestone, becoming the third Brazilian to hit a century for the club.

Rivaldo scored 130 and Evaristo 105 but if the coach has his way, Neymar will soon overtake them.

"He has numbers [which show he is] a beast of a footballer. He's one of the most unbalancing players in the world [for opposition defences] and his signing by this club was a great decision," said Luis Enrique in his post game news conference.

"I hope he scores another 900 goals, so we can keep seeing him at Barcelona for many more years."

This was Neymar's 177th game since signing for the club in the summer of 2013 and he reached his century in 11 fewer games than it took Lionel Messi, who was suspended for the clash in Andalusia.

"I am happy to reach goal 100 and I dedicate it to my colleagues who always help me," Neymar told Barca TV.

"I am happy with the victory that is the important thing.

"I stay with everyone because everyone has been important, but the best of all was the first in the Super Cup."

Luis Enrique was pleased with the team's performance without the Argentine, as well as Gerard Pique who was rested.

"The weeks after international games are always special, we have a lot of players who have had trips and are tired, and above all a game away from home always adds to the difficulty level, but I think we did very well," he added.

"We started well, dealing with the opponent's high press, creating chances and perhaps we lacked a little precision in the final metres, but the 1-0 score at half-time reflected our dominance.

"It was trickier for us at the start of the second half with the goal, but we soon improved and were able to earn a result like this."

While Neymar and Suarez both scored and led the team in Messi's absence, substitute Paco Alcacer also played an important role after coming on for Rafinha, who injured his knee.

The ex-Valencia striker has had few chances this season but was brought on to play on the right wing and ended up scoring to send Barcelona ahead, after Chelsea loanee Jeremie Boga cancelled out Suarez's opening goal, and creating Neymar's with a low cross.

"Paco is always ready to help the team," explained Luis Enrique. "Even when he doesn't have a chance to start. He scored a goal, he got an assist, he played a very complete game."

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