Luis Enrique out to land knockout blow in Clasico

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is desperate to end Real Madrid’s La Liga title ambitions in Saturday’s Clasico at Camp Nou.

The Catalans hold a 10-point lead over their third-placed rivals heading into this weekend’s encounter, with Atletico Madrid trailing by nine points with eight games to go.

Luis Enrique is eagerly anticipating Saturday’s match and believes a win at Camp Nou would effectively end the title hopes of Zinedine Zidane’s men.

“We hope that it will be a great show and that the best team wins. There is nothing that gets a Barcelona fan going more than beating Madrid. And that also goes for a Barcelona player. And it will be the same the other way around,” Luis Enrique said at a news conference.

“Real Madrid will no longer be able to win La Liga if we beat them. We would like to land the knockout blow.

“La Liga is all about consistency. We sit atop of the table because we deserve it. The only thing that’s missing is a reward at the end of the season and we need three points for that.

“I don’t know whether Madrid are back in the title race if they beat us. I am only thinking about winning the game. It will be a very difficult game for both teams. Barcelona and Madrid are the best teams in the world.

“Madrid have a number of options. They can sit deep, but they can also play higher up the pitch. We will not change our style. That would be ridiculous. We want to have the ball as much as possible. We must make sure Madrid cannot show their quality. We have shown that we are also dangerous on the counter-attack, but I prefer to have the ball and play a possession-based game.

“If you go to the theatre, you want to see a good show. It’s the same when you go to watch Barcelona. You do not just want to see a win, but also some good football. That’s why we sign players with individual quality rather than players who are physically strong. We always look for individual quality.”