Deportivo 0-8 Barcelona: Luis Enrique says effectiveness only difference from Valencia defeat

Barcelona manager, Luis Enrique, believes that the only difference between the team's weekend defeat to Valencia and their impressive 8-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday night (20 April) was the renewed efficiency of his players up front.

The Barcelona boss, meanwhile, remains confident in continuing the run all the way to the title, with just four games remaining, although he admitted it will be a difficult challenge, as Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid also won their respective encounters against Athletic Club and Villarreal.

The Catalans arrived to Riazor, following a poor run of form after having secured only one point from their last four games, with three consecutive defeats to Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Valencia. Yet, they managed to turn their fortunes around on Wednesday night and humiliated Deportivo with an impressive performance led by Luis Suarez, who scored four goals and provided a further three set-ups to keep his side at the top of La Liga table.

The Barcelona manager was delighted with the win, but pointed out that the performance was not entirely different to the one that saw them losing 2-1 to Valencia last Sunday, 17 April. During that match, the side missed a number of clear chances and goalkeeper Diego Alves was arguably the Man of Match.

"We moved down the wings really well, with Leo [Messi] making his superiority as always. The team have been very good. We made sure we took our early chances, which are the most important, and from there on, we were on a roll," Luis Enrique said. "Football is a special game in this sense. We played another great game, similar to the one we did against Valencia. It is just that this time everything we have been very effective and against Valencia it didn't. I think we actually had more chances to score against Valencia but it just wouldn't go in."

"It is a spectacular result and the challenge ahead of us is an exciting one. We didn't concede any goals and won away from home."

Nevertheless, recent victories for both Atletico and Real Madrid against Athletic Club and Villarreal didn't allow Barcelona to increase their La Liga leadership, meaning that they remain top of the table thanks to the goal difference with Los Colchoneros and a point above Zinedine Zidane's side.

"Now we have a wonderful challenge ahead of us (to win the four games remaining and clinch the title)," the Barcelona boss said. "The need for a good result and win was key for us. The team who is the best over 38 games will win La Liga. Not the team who is best in game 32, 37, 35 or 31. There are four games left and it will be difficult."