Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has expressed his satisfaction over the 5-1 victory against Leganes that saw his men line up in an unfamiliar formation, with a few key players missing,Goal.comreports.
The La Liga champions visited the home of the newly-promoted side using the unconventional 3-4-3 formation, which meant, without recognised fullbacks, Barcelona's usual reliance on rampaging full-backs was sacrificed.
With Sergio Busquets also missing from the starting eleven, the Catalan giants suffered early pressure from Leganes, but Enrique's men eventually wore them down, with goals coming from Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez and a stunning goal from midfielder Rafinha.
"The tactical set up did have its risks but we faced up to it and I'm proud," said Luis Enrique."We've been inspired. We made use of the space and we were switched on from the start.
"The victory is a major victory, like all others, against a difficult rival who hindered us with high pressure.
"We had to seize the spaces and try to create one-on-one situations.
"With three defenders you can suffer complications in defence, facing a three-on-three was a risk but they had to face the same with our strikers.
"I didn't see anything strange in the three-man defence. I did many changes because we played four days ago and I'm thinking about Atletico Madrid right now."
With last season's untimely collapse, which saw the eventual La Liga champions throw away a 12 point lead, Enrique is understandably determined to keep his players fresh especially with Diego Simone's Atletico visiting the Nou Camp this Wednesday.
He added:"We have to manage the workloads of players with the obligation to win and be competitive.
"To successfully meet our targets over such a long season we need all the players. With 11 alone, we cannot cope with it."