Life without Neymar: Barcelona boss denies lack of cutting edge without the striker

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde rejected the notion that his side lacked a cutting edge without Neymar in the 3-1 Clasico defeat by Real Madrid.

In his side's first game since the Brazilian striker joined PSG for £198million, the Catalans succumbed to a first leg deficit in the Spanish Super Cup.

But Valverde preferred to praise Real and focus on the collective effort of his group rather than dwell on the hole left by Neymar, who was replaced in the line-up by Gerard Delofeu.He told the post-match press conference: 'It's not about accumulating people who score a lot of goals, but creating a consistency in our play so that the players who score the goals are always close to doing so.

'I don't think we're short of goals. [Madrid] were more clinical. We congratulate them and we will try to improve.'

An own goal from Gerard Pique and strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo and Marco Asensio put Zinedine Zidane's side in control of the tie.

And from a Barcelona perspective, the Spanish champions looked ominously strong ahead of what is expected to be another two-horse race in La Liga.

Valverde's side have been heavily linked with a move for Philippe Coutinho to fill the Neymar void and Barcelona's new boss pledged to work hard in his attempts to bring in players before the transfer window closes.

'We're Barca and we want to have the best team,' he said. 'Until the end of August, there's time [to sign new players], although I'm focused on the [players] I already have here.'It will have rubbed salt in the wounds for Barcelona fans to see Neymar make a scoring start to life at PSG in their victory over Guingamp.

Those in the Basque country will be desperate for the men behind the scenes to replace their lethal former striker.