Pique: "It's wrong to say we're getting favours"

Barcelona player Gerard Piqué gave an interview to Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo.





You've noticed that the team is afraid to lose?
No. During the first round, we had a lot of victories in a row and everyone was waiting for a game that we wouldn't win. We had a dip but since then we’ve returned to winning.

The 4-3 loss against Atlético Madrid was the turning point?
It was a very strange game that we lost but could have won. Since that day, we're saying to ourselves that this cannot happen again and we've picked up the winning streak.

What would it mean to you to win the Liga in the Bernabéu?
That would mean the league is ours, and it would have something extra. In theory it could happen but this doesn't depend only on us because Madrid has to drop points before that game.

You've dreamed about it?
No. I did dream about winning the league, but winning it there would be something special because it would be in the home of the eternal rival. Maybe we wouldn't be able to celebrate it that much on the pitch but a Liga is a Liga and you have to enjoy and celebrate it like never before.

You've already be counting to see when you could win the long-expected league title?
No, we're going from game to game, thinking about three points at a time and that's going extremely well. Madrid is having a very good series and that also means that you cannot really start counting when or where we could win the league. If they don't fail, we'll win it two matchdays before the end because we're six points ahead.

Is the issue of the referees bothering you after what happened in Getafe?
No, it's better not to comment on those issues. If I have to be honest, at the end of the league, when you count everything together, Barça and Madrid always benefit more than the rest of the teams. Sometimes one gets more, sometimes the other.

But doesn't the whole campaign by the Madrid media saying that Barcelona is helped by the referees anger you when you see what happened in Getafe?
Yes, it's true that it doesn't really make sense that we're the only ones who get help from the referees. I think they're also doing it to destabilize us and to take away some of the pressure because they have a lot, being close to winning no trophy. It's a logical and normal thing. It has always happened but we shouldn't listen to it.

But the campaign goes on and on.
One's already used to it for so many years... If you respond to it, you're creating a mess and I think that this is not what interests us if you see how well we're positioned in the three competitions. That could only distract us.

It shocks you that Madrid is complaining when historically they have been receiving so many benefits and certainly more than Barcelona?
We wouldn't be right to start complaining about this season but there has to be some balance and Madrid just cannot say that we're getting favours. It's totally wrong.


This was the second part of this interview. You'll be able to read the third and last part here in the coming days with Piqué among other things talking about his entertainment qualities and his musical taste.

Read the first part of this interview here:
Pique: "It's very important to celebrate a win"