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Barcelona defender Gerard Pique vowed that the Catalans would fight 'to the end' for the LaLiga Santander title. He took to Twitter to send this encouraging message to the Blaugrana faithful after dropping two crucial points to Celta Vigo. Real Madrid now have an opportunity to establish a two-point gap at the top should they win against Espanyol.
Pique's tweet served as a rallying cry for his side to give their all against Atletico Madrid and the remaining fixtures. His message to the Barcelona fans (originally in Spanish) roughly translates to;
"Remember one thing, we are Barça and that is not over yet. Fighting to the end is part of our DNA. Head high and on Tuesday, we’ll all go!"
Barcelona suffer hammer blow to LaLiga hopes
Pique has made headlines regularly over the last couple of weeks regarding his comments on the LaLiga title. The Spanish legend already made his opinion on the refereeing team clear after their draw away at Sevilla. Pique suggested that Real Madrid receive special treatment from the referees.
Barcelona, currently one point ahead of Real Madrid having played one game more, suffered a significant blow away at Celta Vigo. Fyodor Smolov and Iago Aspas delivered a devastating response to Barcelona's two goals.
The second goal that Barcelona conceded was amidst much controversy. Former Barcelona midfielder Rafinha was in possession of the ball and Pique slid in with a challenge to win it back. The referee awarded a free-kick at the edge of the Catalans' box. Aspas stepped up and stunned Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a surprise near-post finish and equalised for Celta with two minutes to spare.
However, upon several replays, there didn't appear to be proper contact between Pique and Rafinha, despite a foul being awarded.
In response to the incident, Pique took to Twitter on Saturday night to tweet the words,
"We were fated to pretend. To pretend."
Pique's international teammate, Sergio Ramos, responded fiercely to such speculation regarding the refereeing team favouring Real Madrid. Los Blancos' skipper was critical of this perception and said that Real Madrid are the leaders based purely on merit.
Speaking on the controversial comments regarding VAR working in favour of Madrid, Ramos expressed;
"There's a lot of noise in the media because we're leaders again. They didn't talk so much before. They talk about VAR, but I don't think anyone has an advantage over the season."
Ramos also said people 'shouldn't be imagining things' regarding such decisions, adding,
"We don't pay attention to this noise. I don't think they [the referees] take any predetermined decisions. It seems like we should be thanking the refs for being leaders! People shouldn't be imagining things."
The Real Madrid skipper has been in spectacular form this season. He has contributed to the best defence, most clean sheets and most goals by a defender in LaLiga this year. He would hope for his side to maintain their lead over Barcelona and guide them to LaLiga glory.
