Gerard Pique has complained of Barcelona being ‘attacked from all sides’ and says that for what has been levied against Lionel Messi, ‘justice’ must be delivered.
The Catalans ended the calendar year with accusations against Messi’s father Jorge being posted in the Spanish media, alleging that he was inadvertently involved in laundering proceeds from Colombian drug trafficking.
For Pique, the stories are part of a wider campaign against the club and its No 10 and must be stopped soon.
“There have been various attacks and from all sides. [From the capital] too. We defeat Madrid 5-0 and it is said that they are a weak opponent,” the 26-year-old began in today’s edition of Sport.
“There comes a time when enough is enough There are laws, rules and those who are in charge, who dispense justice. At one point it must be said that this is enough.
“After throwing all this [rubbish] at a person [Messi] who has not done what they are saying, someone must deliver justice, but it cannot be us.”
Pique was asked if the attacks from the capital are down to Barca’s recent run of success.
“For Real Madrid it is difficult to see an opponent that wins a lot. Here we have done so for a long time. They are angry.
“It must be accepted that sometimes, one wins and other times, others win. It goes in cycles and the current cycle is for Barca. The rivalry is historic and always the intention is that the rival is worse off.”
The Blaugrana are currently level at the top of La Liga with Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.
“We are level and we did win the Supercopa against them, but Atletico are where they are and we have come from where we have.
“Atletico have had two very good years with El Cholo, whilst they come from being down. Being up top gives them plenty of oxygen, but we must be ahead of everyone, or we will run out of air.
“It all depends on where you come from. When you come from being high up, if you do not maintain that, everything seems bad.”
The centre-back was asked of Barca’s hopes in this year’s Champions League.
“Can we win it? Yes, absolutely. We look at the rivals who have progressed more comfortably and there are few.
“Bayern have to be taken into account, but after that there are no other rivals that can say they are above us.
“Currently we can say there is Bayern for everything that they have won, and for defeating us in last year’s semi-final.
“Are we anxious to face Manchester City? Far from it! It is true that there exists a Cule pessimism in everything in life, but we have changed that in recent years.
“The batch of young Cules to have seen Barca win are optimistic.”
Pique has provided notable soundbites in the past on the continued debate surrounding Barcelona’s evolving playing style under Tata Martino.
“With Pep we created something that was very important, which was to pressure in attack, steal the ball in the last third and score quick goals from there.
“It is something we should maintain for as long as possible. We do not know how to defend in our area if we are winning, we defend by pressing.”
