Barcelona deserved the defeat, insists manager Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique instructing Jordi Alba during the match

Manager Luis Enrique said the defeat was deserved after watching FC Barcelona crash to a shock 0-1 loss at home to Malaga here.

"It was not our day and that means that what happened, happened," he said Saturday, reported Xinhua.

Enrique used the defeat to explain that at times a good performance from Barca's rivals can be as decisive as their attacking play.

"Games like this are good to make you realise that and the defeat is deserved."

The measure of surprise in the result is that Malaga had lost in their last 12 visits to Camp Nou but the effect of the defeat is that Barca failed to leapfrog Real Madrid at the top of La Liga standings and if Madrid were to register an away win against Elche Sunday, Barca would slip to four points behind and would need favours from other sides in order to be able to win the title.

"This defeat hurts us but Malaga played very well thanks to being well positioned on the pitch. I would separate the first half from the second," added Enrique.

"In the first half we played more or less well, our rivals took advantage of an error to score but we were well-organised. But in the second half we saw we were not in a good individual or collective moment."

Barca's next game is a tough Champions League clash against Manchester City, who scored five goals past a hapless Newcastle United Saturday.

"Time will tell if that affects us. Defeats are painful and it's hard to recover from them. We have a great challenge ahead of us and we have to get past it," Enrique said.