Pique vows to fight for Barca place

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique says he will fight for his place in the team after being on the bench last weekend.

The Spanish international revealed he was fit enough to play and it was boss Luis Enrique’s decision to name him as a substitute for the victory over Athletic Bilbao.

“Physically I’m fine although my hip isn’t 100 per cent. But I can still play and it was entirely the boss’s decision to select [Jeremy] Mathieu,” he told a Press conference.

“Sometimes I get a few little niggles from the hip, but I can train and play with no problems and I’m very happy with my fitness.

“I can’t really do much about what the reporters think and I’ve never felt the right to be a starter or a substitute, so I’ll just look forward to the next game and continue to fight for my place.”

Pique was speaking ahead of Barca’s Champions League game against APOEL on Wednesday and believes this could be the dawn of a new era for the Catalans.

“There is a very, very good generation of players here and we must take advantage of that as much as we can.

“We’ve had some great times but we can’t expect to win the Champions League every year as nobody can stand expectations such as that.

“But when Messi and Neymar connect together we have two of the best players in the world.

“Also I think we have improved defensively, but it is a very long season and that improvement must last all year,” he concluded.

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