Getty Gerard Pique in action against Bayern Munich.
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen did not seem at all impressed with center-back Gerard Pique’s defending against Bayern Munich goal machine Robert Lewandowski in the Champions League on Tuesday, September 14.
Lewandowski bagged a brace in a comfortable 3-0 win over the Bundesliga champions with Thomas Muller also on target for the visitors at the Camp Nou.
Ter Stegen has been caught on camera yelling at Pique for going to ground too early before Lewandowski casually struck Bayern’s third of the night to seal a deserved win, as shown by Barca Universal.
Ter Stegen to Piqué after Bayern’s third goal: “Don’t throw yourself to the ground always! Stay standing up!”
The defeat makes it a tough start to the group stages for Barcelona and has put pressure on coach Ronald Koeman, particularly for his conservative approach to the match which has not gone down well with supporters.
Opta highlighted how the hosts didn’t manage a single effort on target throughout the 90 minutes.
0 – Barcelona have failed to register a shot on target in a Champions League match for the first time since at least the 2003/04 season. Muted.
President Joan Laporta is now said to be running out of patience with Koeman and “wants a Barcelona nothing like the one he saw on Tuesday night,” according to Albert Masnou at Diario Sport.
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Pique Reacts to Barcelona Defeat
Pique was quick to share his thoughts after the match in an interview with Movistar and admitted it is a tough result for Ronald Koeman’s side. However, the defender still feels his team can compete once they welcome a host of injured players back, as reported by CNN.
“The result is rough and playing at home, it’s a bad result, we can’t lie to ourselveS. It is what it is, right now, we are who we are,” he said. “I hope that throughout the season, injured players start coming back and I’m convinced that we’ll end up competing well. It’s going to be a very complicated year. Right now, we’re not favorites, but things change really fast in football. Last season, no one would have said Chelsea were favorites [to win the Champions League].”
Barcelona were without Sergio Aguero, Ansu Fati, Ousmane Dembele, and Martin Braithwaite for the match because of injury. The Catalans also confirmed after the game that Pedri and Jordi Alba have joined the injured list after picking up problems during the defeat.
Lewandowski Says Bayern Controlled Game
Meanwhile, Lewandowski was named the Player of the Match for his performance at the Camp Nou as Bayern took all three points and made it another win for the Bavarian giants over Barcelona.
The Poland international spoke to UEFA after the game and felt his team had controlled the match and fully deserved their victory.
“For sure this trophy belongs to the whole team because we knew we had to push from the first minute,” he said. “We were here to win this game and of course we had a lot of respect for Barcelona and playing at the Camp Nou it’s always dangerous playing against a big opponent. But we had this game under control and we showed we were here to win, to get three points and to go back to Munich.”
Barcelona and Bayern return to Champions League action on Wednesday, September 29. The Catalan giants are in Portugal to face Benfica, while Bayern host Dynamo Kiev at the Allianz Arena.
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