Gerard Pique on Barcelona’s draw with Cadiz: “It hurts a lot”

Barcelona welcomed Cadiz to Camp Nou on Sunday afternoon with more to play for than they would have previously thought. Atletico Madrid lost 2-0 at home to Levante yesterday afternoon after drawing with them earlier in the week, opening up an opportunity for the chasing pack to close the gap.

Barcelona failed to capitalise, blowing a 1-0 lead to draw 1-1. Real Madrid won last night at Real Valladolid to move just three points behind their city neighbours, meaning Barcelona could have gone three points behind Los Blancos had they won. Sevilla can now overtake Barcelona when they play Osasuna tomorrow.

Barcelona started in dominant form and took the lead on the half-hour mark. Pedri was fouled in the box to win a penalty, which Lionel Messi duly stepped up to coolly convert. The Catalans dominated the game to a ridiculous degree, but squandered their lead right at the death by conceding a penalty through Clement Lenglet. Alex Fernandez stepped up and slotted it home.

“It hurts a lot,” Gerard Pique said post-match in comments carried by Marca. “Atletico’s defeat gave us a chance and we played a tricky team that shut up behind, but we generated a lot, with goals disallowed and several chances. Losing two points to a penalty in the 90th minute is difficult to digest. Coming into the game from where we did, the important thing was to add three points. But there’s still a chance in the league.”