"Not play Neymar against La Real? Are we joking or what?"

Neymar has four yellow cards in La Liga and one more will force him to miss a league game through suspension. If he’s booked at Anoeta, against Real Sociedad, he will miss the Clasico against Real Madrid on Dec. 3. 

However, that’s not something which Luis Enrique, at the moment, is worried about. The Barça boss insists that his mind is only on the game against La Real in San Sebastian. 

When he was asked if he had considered the possibility of not playing Neymar and saving him for Real Madrid, his response was clear. 

“Nooo! Are we joking or what? No, no,” he said. “There’s just one game: San Sebastian. We get the same points for winning there as we do for beating Madrid.” 

 

The Asturian coach doesn’t think a looming suspension will change the way Neymar players, either: “I don’t think it will condition how he plays, not at all.” 

However, Luis Enrique is surprised his players have accrued so many bookings this season: “I hadn’t looked at that, but yes, it’s something we need to improve if we’re getting a lot of cards. 

“We’re not a team who are giving tackles that get yellow cards, perhaps they’re for protesting, so perhaps we need to assess that if it’s something we can improve.”