Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique, has refrained from making excuses for their draw against Malaga last night. Speaking to the press after the game, the Catalan insisted that a club as big as the Blaugrana shouldn’t be giving excuses about the absentees in a game.
With Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez out, the Camp Nou outfit had a much-weakened attack. It was so bad that Paco Alcacer went for long periods without touching the ball and Neymar lost the ball a record 46 times last night.
Also Read: La Liga 2016/17: FC Barcelona 0-0 Malaga CF - Player Ratings
Pique, in his usual blunt manner, compared Barcelona’s financial stability to that of Malaga’s and opined that that alone should be the reason they shouldn’t make excuses.
"We're Barca and we can't blame absences," he said. "We have players that cost a lot of money and a huge budget if we compare it with Malaga's. There are no excuses for not winning.”
Gerard Pique ended the game as the emergency striker and lamented the fact that they have lost too many points at this point of the season itself.
"It's worrying that we've dropped so many points at home. No one wants to draw against a rival that, in theory, we should beat. We've dropped two points."
Sergio Busquets was the captain in place of the absent Andres Iniesta, in a game which marked his 400th appearance for the club. The stand-in captain rued the loss of the Argentina captain to a bug and the Uruguayan to suspension.
Busquets insisted that the Blaugrana were out of luck and couldn’t score despite trying again and again. He also stated that the absence of Messi and Suarez cost them the added bite in the attack.
Also Read: Messi misses Barcelona game with illness
"We tried a million and one times," he said. "In the second half we created danger but we lacked that bit of luck. These games are always tough. We've hit the woodwork and had goals disallowed.
"Of course Messi and Suarez are two of the most influential players, you'll always miss them, but it's not an excuse because there are other players and a whole squad."
Finally, Gerard Pique said that the club now have to look forward and focus on the Champions League clash against Celtic and then on Real Sociedad away at Anoeta—a ground where they haven’t won in La Liga since 2007.
"Now we have to focus on [Celtic in] the Champions League and then La Real at Anoeta, a ground where we don't do especially well, either," Pique said.
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