Luis Enrique has hit back at criticism over David De Gea after Spain’s 1-0 defeat to Ukraine on Tuesday evening.
Viktor Tsygankov’s goal in the second half was enough to end Spain’s unbeaten run of 15 games and secure victory for Ukraine, who had just two attempts on goal all game.
But De Gea came under fire once again after the Manchester United goalkeeper was caught far off his line for Ukraine’s winning goal.
De Gea has already faced heavy criticism over his form for United, but Luis Enrique refused to blame the 29-year-old after his latest performance.
‘You can always do more, but blaming De Gea is already a bad habit,’ said Luis Enrique.
‘If David is blamed for a game like this, switch it off and we’ll leave.
‘If you attack in a continuous way, you know there are transitions.
‘If a team defends and keeps it at 0-0, they grow, and in one action they’ve caught us. We have to congratulate them.
‘Nothing happens because in one or two games you don’t score goals.
‘We created chances to kill them off. It was a game clearly under our control, with opponents closing the passes and the passing lines.
‘We created chances with Adama [Traore] through his overlapping. In the end, we went into panic mode. I’ve lost lots of these games in my career. The opponent is growing and then in a transition…
‘The conclusion is I liked the attitude of the players. I like what I see.’
Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
