Luis Enrique: 'Poor playing surface benefited Barcelona'

Luis Enrique has confessed that Barcelona had the poor playing surface to thank for both of their goals in Sunday's 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid.

Concerns were raised about the quality of the Vicente Calderon pitch prior to the match, which the Catalan giants won thanks to strikes from Rafinha and Lionel Messi.

The ball was regularly held up on the slow pitch, but Enrique - who changed system for the trip to the Spanish capital - believes that the playing surface contributed to the vital win that temporarily took Barca top of the La Liga standings.

"I changed the system to a 3-4-3 diamond in order to have more control, more possession and extra defenders," he is quoted as saying by Marca. "The first half was very difficult with the Atletico pressure and the state of the pitch, from which we benefited with two goals, by the way.

"In the second-half, we were able to connect more and it was difficult for Atletico to continue their pressure, having played in the Champions League [away at Bayer Leverkusen], so our decisive players began to appear more.

"It was important to win away at Atletico Madrid in the fight for the title. They are a direct rival."

Barcelona have now won four league games in succession and have not tasted defeat domestically since mid-October.