Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 9y

Luis Enrique: First La Liga goal a boost for Barcelona's Luis Suarez

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has said Luis Suarez will be boosted after scoring his first La Liga goal for the club in the 5-0 win over Cordoba at the Camp Nou.

The summer signing from Liverpool broke his league drought with a well-taken strike in his eighth league appearance to put Barca 2-0 ahead just after half-time in a game they dominated without sparkling.

Pedro Rodriguez had put Barca ahead within 75 seconds, while Gerard Pique's header and Lionel Messi's two late strikes added gloss.

Enrique told his postmatch news conference: "It is obvious that players who must score have a direct relation with the goal, and the more they score the better for their confidence.

"It is important but not decisive. He [Suarez] brings us a lot more than just goals."

The result means Barcelona will spend the winter break in second place, one point behind leaders Real Madrid, with one more game played.

Asked whether his team had yet to really click this season, Enrique said: "Although we need to improve in all aspects of the play, we just lost one game against Celta, when we hit the woodwork four times.

"We could be doing better in the table, [but] I consider that the team is undergoing a process, that over the course of the season we will improve, but there will be difficult games.

"We were clearly inferior at Real Madrid, but the defeat against Paris Saint Germain should not have happened. I would like to be in another situation in La Liga, but it is what it is."

Brazilian attacker Neymar spent the 90 minutes on the bench, which the coach said had just been a precautionary measure.

"[Neymar] is fine, but he has just had one training session," he explained. "He was in the squad, but if the game was comfortable we did not want to take risks, as he had a problem with his ankle."

Right-back Martin Montoya, whose agent has talked up a move away from the Camp Nou in January, completed his first 90 minutes of the season in La Liga.

The La Masia graduate, 24, could yet win a regular place in the team, Enrique said, adding: "He has been able to play two games, and he has earned that. I know that players can turn these situations around. All of the players are top level."

He also spoke about sought-after Norwegian teenager Martin Odegaard, who reportedly spent time training at Barcelona recently.

Odegaard has also been linked with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, and Enrique said: "You can see that he has many suitors. He has to decide himself."

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