Luis Enrique backs players' decision to sit out FIFA 'The Best' awards

The elephant in the room at FIFA's inaugural 'The Best' awards ceremony on Monday was Barcelona's absent players, and yet Luis Enrique has thrown his support behind their decision not to travel to Zurich.
Citing the upcoming Athletic Club Copa del Rey second leg, the Asturian boss made
clear that no one forced the decision onto Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Andres Iniesta, and Gerard Pique.
"The decision of any award winner to go or not is their personal choice and as their coach I can only support them," Luis Enrique told reporters ahead of Wednesday's match. "I would have supported them in any case, and in this example I support them 100 percent, especially because there is a big game upcoming."
Going into their last-16 encounter with the Leones, Barcelona have been mired in refereeing controversies after drawing 1-1 with Villarreal on the weekend, an issue put to Luis Enrique.
"I think the position of the club and myself is faultless, it's easy to complain and mourn about specific errors but it's harder to protect your players," he added.
"Pique is a big boy and knows what he wants to say. I'm delighted with him as a footballer, after that every person has their own way of expressing things.
"[The press] must be delighted, they get a story."
Overturning a 2-1 scoreline is far from an impossibility for the Catalans at Camp Nou, but Luis Enrique expects a similar Athletic performance to the one that beat his side last time out.
"I don't believe that they will change anything, they will continue to press and attack," the coach insisted. "[Ernesto] Valverde is one of the best coaches and Athletic are defined by their high press.
"We need to produce a big performance."