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Gerard Pique admitted Barcelona’s 1-1 La Liga draw with Cadiz at the Camp Nou “hurts a lot” and is “tough to take” after the Catalan giants missed the chance to cut the gap to league leaders Atletico Madrid to six points.
Barca looked set to make it eight wins in a row in La Liga after going ahead through a Lionel Messi spot-kick but were held to a draw as Cadiz equalized in the 89th minute after Clement Lenglet had conceded a penalty.
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Pique Hurting After Cadiz Draw
Pique spoke to reporters after the game and admitted it’s a tough blow, particularly in a week where Barca were also beaten 4-1 in the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain.
Well, it’s painful obviously because of Atletico’s defeat yesterday we knew we could close the gap today. We knew it would be complicated, we had a couple ruled out for offside, I think they only had one chance in the first half. But a penalty in the 90th minute and we drop two points, it’s tough to take.
We needed to get the three points today to close the gap. Every game you don’t win, your chances of winning [the title] are reduced. La Liga is very long and there’s still a lot to play for, it’s not impossible, but it doesn’t help. We need to get some good consistency in our play and try to convert that into results.
I think we can still challenge but we know it’ll be difficult. We have to try, today it wasn’t our day and it was a tough blow after the week we’ve had. We have to go again against Elche. We go game by game and there is still a league to be played.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Barcelona. The hosts saw goals by Frenkie de Jong and Pedri both ruled out for offside, while Cadiz goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma made a string of important saves to deny Barcelona a second goal.
Sunday’s result means Barcelona stay third in the table and are now eight points behind Atletico. Sevilla could move above the Catalan giants if they beat Osasuna on Monday.
Pique Not Giving Up Hope
Although Pique could not hide his disappointment at the result, he did insist that Barca’s title hopes are not over just yet. Ronald Koeman’s side are back in action against Elche on Wednesday with Pique urging the team to respond.
We are still in the three tournaments but if we are realistic they are all really complicated, especially in the Champions League. In the Copa del Rey we have some chances to turn it around. In La Liga it depends on the other teams as well. We will keep working hard, we need to get our team identity back. We have to believe in ourselves, after these two tough blows we need to pick ourselves up, especially emotionally.
The center-back also spoke about his physical condition after making his second start since returning from injury. Pique is back after three months on the sidelines with knee trouble and admits he’s happy to be back ahead of schedule.
I’m a bit tired to be honest, but I’m happy to be back sooner than expected. Slowly but surely I’ll be able to get back to my best. Obviously I haven’t trained too much, so with the games i hvae to get my rhythm back as soon as possible.
Defensive issues have plagued Barcelona all season and were on show again as Lenglet conceded a late penalty. The Frenchman has now given away three spot-kicks this season, no player has conceded more in La Liga in 2020-21, according to Carrusel.
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