Luis Enrique has brushed aside Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi's trip to a casino hours before Barcelona's crucial Champions League date with Manchester City and insists it is not an issue.
Pique and Messi, along with Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas, were pictured leaving Casino de Barcelona in the early hours of this morning, shortly before the squad was due to depart for Manchester. Coming so soon after Saturday's shock 1-0 defeat to Malaga, it has caused a furore.
When Pique was asked by Spanish journalists if he had anything to say, the former Manchester United defender replied: ‘No. It is my private life. I just had a nice night.’
And Enrique brusquely dismissed a question that the World Cup winner had done anything wrong, stressing that Pique and the rest of his squad remain focused on taking a step towards the Champions League quarter-finals.
Enrique said: ‘No gossip. Not interested. Only football. At this club, you sometimes need something extra to decorate the tree of life.’
Barcelona has won 11 consecutive games prior to the defeat to Malaga and it once again raised questions about how Barcelona’s players are gelling with Enrique but Pique denied there had been in-fighting.
‘No, there is no problem between us and the manager,’ he said. We get on fine, the relationship is good. We don’t have to worry about it. It is just one defeat, it is behind us now. We have shown how we can play here in the past.
‘When you lose a game you get doubts arising. We need a good result. We know this team can play to a great standard. The fans will be right behind City. We will have to take the game to them. I’m sure we will get a decent result here.’
It was put to Enrique whether Barcelona had relaxed against Malaga, in preparation for the trip to Manchester, but that was met with another stony face from the manager.
‘’We did not relax,’ said Enrique. ‘We were well prepared and we would never go into a league game thinking about a Champions League match. There was no difference in the tactics.’
These sides met at this stage last season but Enrique is expecting a difficult match. He respects City and is expecting Barcelona to be pushed to the limit to preserve their record of having reached at least the quarter-finals for the last eight years.
source: daily mail
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