"Whenever it happens, losing a match is heartbreaking."
At the post-match press conference at the Bernabéu, Barcelona Head Coach Louis Enrique could barely conceal his frustration. He looked completely dejected, clearly bitterly disappointed by the just-concluded El Clásico, especially by the astonishingly lopsided scoreline.
Five-nil. It was a scoreline that had appeared throughout the history of the bitterly intertwined rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona, and tonight it had appeared once again.
"Now, we have to improve as quickly as possible and emerge from the shadow of this defeat. What worries me most is the players' emotional state. I hope they can regain their fighting spirit as soon as possible, because we still have a long road ahead of us."
"Tonight, we faced an excellent team, and we paid the price for our mistakes. But I have always believed that losing in this manner was unfair to us, because we controlled the match throughout. Still, we lost, so there is nothing more to say. What we need most now is to pull ourselves out of these negative emotions."
Enrique was obviously deeply disappointed himself, but he had no choice except to force himself to rally his spirits and encourage his players.
Time waited for no one. The Champions League was coming in midweek, followed by one league match after another.
2016 was the year of the European Cup. To make room for the European Cup, the leagues across Europe had become even more tightly scheduled. As a result, this season's La Liga winter break was very short, and there was no way to leave Barcelona enough time to slowly lick its wounds.
Some media reporters asked Enrique on the spot for his opinion of the lineup and tactics for the match. The Barcelona Head Coach candidly admitted that he had