Getty Gerard Pique in action for Barcelona.
Gerard Pique has offered a brutally honest answer on the difference between Barcelona and Bayern Munich ahead of his team’s crunch Champions League clash with the Bavarian giants on Wednesday, December 8.
Bayern head into the match on top of the Bundesliga and with top spot in Group E already assured, while Barca are down in seventh in La Liga and must beat Julian Nagelsmann’s men to qualify for the Champions League last 16.
Bayern have beaten Barcelona 8-2 and 3-0 in in their last two meetings and Pique had no hesitation when asked why the German giants had moved so far ahead of Barca in recent years, as shown by ESPN’s Samuel Marsden.
Pique asked to explain the difference between Barcelona and Bayern Munich in recent years: “The management [of the club]. It’s as simple as that”
The Catalans have endured a succession of managers since last winning the European Cup back in 2015 under Luis Enrique. Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien, and Ronald Koeman have all been and gone at the Camp Nou under previous president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
Barca have also racked up huge debts over recent years which ultimately led to the departure of club legend Lionel Messi in summer 2021 on a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.
Joan Laporta has since taken over and replaced Koeman with former midfielder Xavi in November 2021, and the new boss will be hoping to make history on Wednesday night. Barca have never won away at Bayern Munich, although the club have won 10 times in Germany in European competition.
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Pique Explains How to Handle Lewandowski
Pique will have his work cut out against Bayern as he’ll come up against prolific striker Robert Lewandowski who scored twice when the two teams met at the Camp Nou back in September.
Lewandowski, who finished runner-up to Lionel Messi at the 2021 Ballon d’Or awards, now has nine goals in five Champions League matches this season and 16 in just 14 Bundesliga outings.
Pique has told his teammates they need to keep Lewandowski as far away from the penalty area as possible throughout the 90 minutes at the Allianz Arena.
“We need to keep him far away from the area. To do this we need all the team to play far away from the area and that means to play in their half,” he said. “Robert is really really good. He can make a big difference. We must keep him far away, keep hold of the ball and don’t allow them to have it often. Then we’ll have more opportunities to win and not concede goals. If Robert doesn’t participate too much in the game that’s better for us.”
Pique Says Barca Can Beat Bayern
Bayern are undoubtedly favorites for victory but Pique does believe his team can secure the win needed. Laporta has previously said he thinks Barca can pull off a “miracle” win in Munich but Pique knows it will be a tough evening.
“Yes I think it’s possible to win tomorrow. I won’t speak about miracles. I’ll admit it’s a complicated match in a very difficult stadium,” he said. “Bayern haven’t lost here for a long time in the group stages. But we need to play our game. To win tomorrow we need to try and keep a clean sheet, or concede as few as possible, and to try and stop them getting many chances. We have to go out and hunt them, make sure they’re not comfortable, that’s how you get chances.”
Barca have only scored twice in the Champions League this season with Pique on target in the win over Dynamo Kiev. The goal saw the center-back draw level with Roberto Carlos as the joint-highest scoring defender in Champions League history.