Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has admitted that it is “normal” that the club are not being viewed among the favourites to win the Champions League this season.
It comes after comments from Dynamo Kiev boss Mircea Lucescu that this Blaugrana team are not at the level to win this season’s competition – a tournament which they have not reached the final of since their 2015 triumph.
Lucescu told his pre-match press conference, as per Marca: “I don’t think Barcelona has the level now to win the Champions League.
“Bayern Munich, Manchester City or PSG have more options. However, they have a footballer like Leo Messi, who can be very important.”
Barcelona won the game against the Ukrainian side on Wednesday night, although the visiting side were without a whopping 13 first-team squad players for the encounter – with nine ruled out due to positive Covid-19 infections.
It was the Catalan club’s third successive win in the group stage and they are on the verge of comfortable qualification to the Round of 16, having previously beaten both Ferencvaros and Juventus.
However, without a La Liga victory in four attempts – there are still many doubts over what the club can achieve this season.
“It is normal that we are not seen as candidates after recent years,” Pique admitted, in quotes carried by Diario Sport.
“We can only work hard and experience tells us that the results will come. This year will not be easy but we are confident in doing great things. We are in November and by the end the results will be coming for us.
“I am convinced that we are going to change, we will have better feelings because we have young players who provide a lot of dynamism for us.
“We need time to change our dynamics and grow.”
