Lionel Messi is recovering "very well" from his knee injury according to Luis Enrique, but the Barcelona coach suggested the forward would not be rushed into making a return for the Nov. 21 Clasico with Real Madrid.
Messi, 28, was ruled out of action for seven to eight weeks on Sept. 26 after tearing the internal collateral ligament of his left knee early on in the 2-1 win against La Palmas.
Luis Enrique says that while any team would miss the Argentina international -- who scored 58 goals last season to lead Barca to the Treble -- he is pleased with how his side have coped ahead of Sunday's home match against Villarreal.
Asked how Messi's recovery was going, the coach told reporters: "Very well. Is that too short an answer? With Messi we're much stronger, no doubt about it, but we have a great team and lots of resources -- we've taken a step forward. Behind it all is some serious hard work."
On Messi's chances of featuring in the Bernabeu Clasico on Nov. 21, he said: "There's nothing worse for a player than relapse. We want him to recover properly."
Neymar and Luis Suarez have both stepped up in Messi's absence -- the Brazil captain has eight goals and five assists in the eight matches since Messi's injury, while Suarez has scored nine and made two more in that time.
Barca have gone three games without conceding after an early-season run of shipping goals in eight consecutive games -- a situation Luis Enrique is pleased with as the Blaugrana vie for top spot, with Rafa Benitez's Madrid side leading the table on goal difference after 11 games.
"We always review how other teams get at us and try to correct individual mistakes," he added. "We're in one of our better moments, we still have defensive aspects we can improve on -- every defensive situation can be improved."