Gerard Pique has admitted he didn’t expect Barcelona to be fighting for the treble this season because the feat is so hard to accomplish.
It was put to Pique in an interview with Mundo Deportivo that Barca couldn’t have predicted being where they are now back in January, when Real Madrid were running away with the League and Camp Nou was an unhappy place.
“I wouldn’t have said it in January but not earlier this season either,” the defender protested.
“You never think you can reach the end of the year with a chance of winning the treble. It’s something that has only happened once in the club’s history, in 2009, once in history for any Spanish team.
“A treble almost never happens. Therefore, at the beginning of the season you aren’t thinking of winning everything. You want to have a good season and to try to win the League since that’s the regular competition.
“From there if you can add the Copa del Rey or the Champions League, then so be it. But I don’t think anyone thought in January or August that we’d be in this current situation.
“I don’t think there was a moment anything clicked, or a talk or a specific situation. But after [losing to Real Sociedad at] Anoeta we began to win, to gain confidence, to take on what the Coach wanted.
“We beat Atletico Madrid, who last year we couldn’t beat even once, and that gave us confidence to move forward. And as I always say, confidence is vital. You can have all the talent in the world but if you don’t have it in your head it’s impossible to do anything.”
Pique was also asked about the reported row between Coach Luis Enrique and Lionel Messi, said to have taken place in January before Barca lost to Real Sociedad.
“I saw it as a situation that often happens. Don’t give it more importance than it has. It was a discussion that happens in a locker room in the season between players or players and technical staff,” he replied.
“Who hasn’t ever argued with someone you know? It’s a normal situation in this profession and that’s it, there’s no getting around it. It’s true that as it was the star of the team and the Coach it was made out to be more important than it was.
“I’ve never had any problems with the Coach. They also said there were problems with Pep Guardiola, and there weren’t. The Coach makes decisions and you have to abide by them.
“It’s a Coach-player relationship like many others, as I might have had with Tata Martino, Tito Vilanova, or Pep.
“I try not to get too close to the Coaches I’ve had because you have to retain some distance but the relationship has to be cordial, some friendship. You spend a lot of time together and you can’t have a cold relationship.”
