Barcelona coach Luis Enrique hits out at critics: ‘If you don’t win 8-0, does it not count?’

Ivan Rakitic, left, of Barcelona celebrates scoring their opening goal with teammate Jordi Alba during La Liga match between Real Betis and Barcelona at Estadio Benito Villamarin on April 30, 2016 in Show more

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique rejected suggestions his team had under-performed in their 2-0 win at Real Betis, which saw the Catalans move to within two wins of retaining the Primera Liga title.

Barca played the final 55 minutes of the game with an extra man after Betis defender Heiko Westermann was sent off for two bookings, and Barca’s opening goal from Ivan Rakitic arrived after a misunderstanding between Betis defender German Pezzella and goalkeeper Antonio Adan.

See also:

• Poll: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid or Barcelona, who will win La Liga?

• When Gareth Bale 'is fit you notice' glows Zinedine Zidane after Real, Atletico and Barcelona all win in Spain

• Andy Mitten: A sublime moment from Saul Niguez, a show of strength from Atletico Madrid

• Top 20 Power Table: Barcelona (and Juventus) on top; Liverpool make an appearance

Luis Suarez then made sure of the victory by scoring his 35th goal of the season with nine minutes remaining.

Barca beat Sporting Gijon 6-0 in their previous league game and thrashed Deportivo La Coruna 8-0 before then, and Luis Enrique reacted angrily to questions in a press conference that suggested Barca had not played well against Betis.

“What’s the problem, if you don’t win 8-0, does it not count? This is a very competitive league with three teams fighting for the title,” he said.

“I don’t think we suffered at all, given the pressure you are under in these games, I think we played really well.”

Barca's title rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid kept the pressure on the Catalans by beating Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad respectively, but Barca will win the league title for a 24th time if they beat Espanyol next week and Granada on the final weekend of the season.

“Looking at the results I don’t think any of the three teams are going to slip up and it’s in our own hands,” Enrique said.

“I think people have become used to us being so good that they have lost sight of what competitive football is. The first half was a bit of a battle but in the second half we were the better team and we were able to finish them off.”

Rakitic was also unapologetic about his team’s performance.

“I don’t really care if we shine or not as long as we win,” the Croatian midfielder told Canal Plus.

“We can be happy, there’s one game left to go. If you are top of the league with two games left then you have to win however you can.

“We always want people to be happy with our play but now we have to win the league.”

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport