An error from Paulo Gazzaniga on 90 minutes handed the hosts a 1-0 win on Wednesday night.
Enrique later said, "We've seen why Girona managed to qualify for the Champions League. Why they were leaders of the League for so long. They are a very tough team and they defended well. We struggled to create clear chances, but we deserved the victory.
"We have been showing the same spirit for several months. Nobody gives up until the end. We scored in the last minutes, which gave us some breathing room. Progress? That is our objective. If we talk about merits, I think we deserved to win.
"It was hard. I told Míchel that this was worse than giving birth, with all due respect. I think we were superior, but Girona swung around us and made us dizzy. At half-time we said that if we didn't press we were going to suffer. We had an obligation to win and it was very hard. I congratulate Girona."
On the new Champions League format, he added: "We don't know the scale of this competition with this format. We'll be playing against teams that have easier schedules than ours. How many points will we need? There are many unknowns that will be cleared up. It was vital to win today.
"Not only for the points, but also for what it generates in a team like ours that wants to go as far as possible in this competition."