Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde claims he was happy with his side's game management in the hard fought win against La Liga new boys Real Valladolid.
As the terrible field made elite level performances difficult, a solitary Ousmane Dembele goal saw La Blaugrana sweat to a 1-0 win. The €105m man was the game's star, with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho's influence near non-existent.
Speaking in his post match interview, via Barcelona's official website, the manager is quoted as saying: "Valladolid has presented a team with good pressure inside and they have pressed us, but the field has conditioned a lot.
"We had more dominance and opportunities to make the second goal, but we could not guarantee any exit in conditions,"
"I wouldn't have subbed out Dembele because he was the best today. Vidal's substitution sends a message to the team that we should hold on to the 1-0 lead. We are Barça, we dont do that."
- Gerard Romero
— Barca Universal (@BarcaUniversal) August 25, 2018
Valverde added: "There has been a time when they have changed the system and we have been able to make it 0-2, but in the last minutes we have had a bad time.
"These games give opportunities to win the league"
Despite the win, the major talking point of the game was the hideous state of Real Valladolid's pitch, which Valladolid may receive punishment for.
Valverde commented: "We were afraid that there might be some injury, the condition of the pitch has conditioned us both teams."
After the victory, the Catalan side now sit top of La Liga. Taking on another newly promoted side in SD Huesca next week, they will aim to make it three wins from three.