FCBARCELONA.CAT

25.11.2009 11:56

Piqué quietly confident

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Speaking after the valuable win against Inter Milan, Gerard Piqué assured the fans that the players are now focussed on the weekend’s game against Real Madrid.

The Barça defender, who scored the opening goal against Inter Milan, featured in the Barça TV programme ‘El Marcador’ after Tuesday night’s match. After describing the match in some detail, he went on to discuss the upcoming classic against Real Madrid.

“Caution and respect”

He emphasised that the players are keeping their feet firmly on the ground: “We have caution and respect for the opponent. They’re league leaders”. Piqué, who scored the fifth of Barça’s six goals against Real Madrid in the Bernabéu last season, told us that the players are in no need of any special encouragement: “We don’t need to be motivated because each of us will take to the pitch highly motivated".

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo may get his first taste of the Camp Nou in a Real Madrid shirt. Gerard Piqué told us: “Everybody, not just we players, wants to see the best players. Cristiano is one of the best and I’m sure he’ll play".

As for the match against Inter Milan, the Barça defender is especially pleased with the win: ”The team has taken an important step and though it’s not guaranteed, qualification for the last 16 is almost in the bag”.

Confidence in the squad

On Tuesday, the team showed that they can play well even without players such as Messi and Ibrahimovic: “Within the squad, we know that the players that take to the pitch can win matches. We have confidence in ourselves and the debate about whether the squad is too small wasn’t a debate we had. Within the squad we felt good about the match before kick-off. Obviously, the fact that we won so well without two of our star players makes us stronger”.

Third goal of the season

Piqué scored the first goal of the evening against Inter – his third of the season: “I score when I can because a defender can’t choose when he scores. Last year I had a lot of chances but for one reason or another they didn’t go in. In contrast, this season I’m having a lot more luck and thanks to dead ball moves, something we practised a lot before the match, I’ve been able to help the team. Thanks to these planned moves I’m scoring more goals”.