Luis Enrique: 'We struggled against Hercules'

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has admitted that his team "were pretty bad" in Wednesday's Copa del Rey last-32 first leg against Hercules, which finished 1-1.

Hercules made the breakthrough early in the second period through experienced forward David Mainz, but Barcelona were level before the hour courtesy of Carles Alena's first senior strike.

Enrique refused to be too hard on his players despite the disappointing performance, but the Spanish coach conceded that he 'was not happy' with what he saw in Alicante.

"They wanted to win but we have experience in this kind of knockout tie. As much as I'm not happy, we tried to create problems for a team who changed its system to put five players in defence," Enrique told Mundo Deportivo.

"We struggled in the first half, we were pretty bad. In the second half we created more chances and could have won but the tie is open and you have to wait for the second leg. Now we focus on one of the best games that can be seen in the championship and we are motivated to face our rivals."

Barcelona will welcome Clasico rivals Real Madrid to Camp Nou in La Liga on Saturday afternoon.