Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has praised his players for their perseverance and ruthlessness in breaking down Osasuna during their La Liga clash on Saturday.

The Blaugrana struggled to break down the division's bottom side until the 59th minute, but went on to claim a 3-0 win as Luis Suarez opened the scoring and Lionel Messi added a brace.

"The last few metres are always the most difficult to cross and they had so many players behind the ball but we knew it was vital to score the first goal," Enrique told reporters.

"Every ground is difficult to win at and the pitch was heavy which complicated how we moved the ball but we go home feeling very happy.

"We should have had a more solid structure and they could have caused us problems on set plays but we finished the game off in a ruthless manner."

Barca remain second in the league table, six points behind leaders Real Madrid.