Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has heaped praise on right-back Aleix Vidal after the right-back's eye-catching performance during their comprehensive 5-0 win over Las Palmas.
Vidal, signed in summer 2015 and making his first appearance last January due to a transfer embargo, has been used sparingly by Enrique but has worked hard to prove to his manager that he can be an important member of Barca's first-team.
Vidal scored the fifth goal in Saturday's win - that brings Barca to within two points of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga - and Enrique has admitted that his professional approach to training and performance against Las Palmas will force him into a selection headache.
Love it how happy everyone is for Aleix Vidal's goal. Mes que un club �� pic.twitter.com/4PNd5HOBMY
Based on the way he's trained for the last few months, Aleix is ready to play. He's proved his manager wrong and he's ready to compete. He was excellent today.
With the exception of Jordi Masip, he's the player who's had the least minutes this season. Physically he's in great shape and that allows him to come in and play at such a high level.�
Enrique also praised his team's performance as a whole, particularly lauding their hard work off the ball, ensuring that Las Palmas did not create any chances.
What I'm happiest is how we played without the ball,� hesaid. If you don't press Las Palmas well, they create problems. But getting the ball back from them quickly we were able to generate chances and it's a miracle the game was still alive at half time. The team's work defensively was great, it was one of the best performances since I've been here.�