Luis Enrique: " I'm not worried about Fiorentina defeat"

Luis Enrique spoke at a press conference after losing to Fiorentina, the club's third defeat of the preseason. The Asturian coach said "I'm not worried about the result, instead about other things. We must improve our effectiveness and in all defensive aspects." The coach said of his players: "We are very good if we are 100 per cent. If we're not, we're not as good."

There were positives for Lucho from the game. "There were many aspects of the play which I liked. We have created chances and had good moments. We have to correct things. These games serve as a stimulus."

With respect to the possible exit of Pedro, Enrique said: "Rumours about Pedro leaving? I have no news."

And finally he added: "We have to improve in defence. Opponents cannot have this much space. We have worked on this although we have to work harder."

Luis Enrique: "If we're not 100%, we're not that great"

Luis Enrique was critical of his side's performance against Fiorentina, ruing the fact that mistakes were made in areas that they have covered during pre-season.

"I can't say I'm satisfied with the match. There are defensive points we have to improve on - things that we've been working on, but it doesn't seem to have done the job. We'll have to hammer away at them", the Barça boss noted.

The Asturian was particularly disappointed with the lax defending at the beginning of the encounter. "We were up against powerful opposition and there's no way we should be letting them get shots away in the box, unmarked, twice in the first 10 minutes. There are things that can and should be put right. We're very good if we're 100%, but if we're not, we're not that great", he remarked.

The 'Azulgranas' manager equally felt that his side were not clinical enough: "I'm not concerned by the result, but by the things I've spoken about and about us not being effective enough. If we're effective, we can kill off matches considering the amount of chances we create".

Luis Enrique also revealed that Andrés Iniesta had gone off with a niggle, while playing down fears that it might be anything serious.

FC Barcelona lose third game in a row!

FC Barcelona's disappointing pre-season continued as they were beaten 2-1 by Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi on Sunday.

Barca fell to their third loss in the International Champions Cup, nine days ahead of their Uefa Super Cup meeting against Sevilla, as youngster Federico Bernardeschi netted twice in the opening 12 minutes.

After their shaky start, Barca - who were without superstars Lionel Messi and Neymar - slowly began to control proceedings but failed to find an equaliser after Luis Suarez had halved their deficit.

Chances fell to Pedro and Suarez as the European champions pressed, yet they were unable to find a way through, leaving Luis Enrique with plenty to ponder.

Barca's early defensive play will have worried their head coach as Bernardeschi was twice allowed to pounce on crosses from the right, giving Paulo Sousa an excellent start to his home debut as Fiorentina boss.

The young striker opened the scoring after four minutes with a well-placed header from a sumptuous Borja Valero cross.

Eight minutes later Joaquin found the 21-year-old unmarked 10 yards from goal and he again made no mistake with a cool, side-footed finish.

An action-packed start to proceedings showed no sign of abating as Suarez pulled a goal back for the visitors, the Uruguayan collecting a sublime cushioned volley from Ivan Rakitic before beating Ciprian Tatarusanu.

Pedro and Suarez were each guilty of wasting good openings to level before the break, the former wasteful on two occasions with weak shots from inside the penalty area.

And Barca were lucky not to fall further behind on the stroke of half-time when Bernardeschi went agonisingly close to claiming a hat-trick, the striker just about denied by Marc-Andre ter Stegen as the goalkeeper charged 40 yards out of his goal to deflect a long-range effort narrowly wide.

Valero and substitute Giuseppe Rossi - making his long-awaited comeback at Stadio Artemio Franchi after knee problems - could have strengthened Fiorentina's grip on the game in the second half, but their efforts were deflected over and Barca slowly began to gain control of proceedings.

A diving header from substitute Munir demanded a superb save from Tatarusanu to keep Fiorentina ahead, and the Romanian had to be alert again on the hour as Rafinha, Suarez and Pedro all peppered his goal.

Barca final chance came from an unusual source as Gerard Pique rose to meet a late corner from the left, his glancing header drifting wide as the 2014-15 treble winners fell to another pre-season loss.

18 players to Italy for the final game in the International Champions Cup, against Fiorentina

Barça are off to Italy for the final game in the International Champions Cup, against Fiorentina at 9.00pm CET on Sunday. Luis Enrique will be taking 18 players with him, after deciding to leave behind the players that have only just returned from holiday, Messi, Neymar Jr, Mascherano and Alves, who will instead be training at the Ciutat Esportiva. Goalkeeper Bravo, meanwhile, is not due back at work until after the weekend.

Adriano, with a thigh strain, and Mathieu, who is suffering from otitis after a bout of the flu, also stay behind as precautionary measures after sitting out training on Saturday morning. The injured Douglas and Arda, who worked out separately from the group as they battle to recover from their respective injuries, will not be travelling to Florence either.

But Barça B’s Sergi Samper and Gerard Gumbau have been included in the squad, along with the first team’s Ter Stegen, Masip, Piqué, Rakitic, Sergio, Pedro, Iniesta, Suárez, Rafinha, Bartra, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, Vermaelen, Sandro, Munir and Halilovic.