FCBARCELONA.CAT

17.04.2010 22:42

Piqué again shows his class

Roger Bogunyà

Once again Gerard Pique put in a magisterial performance at the heart of defence in the derby game, making more tackles than any other player, whilst committing just a single foul.

Pareja made 12, tackles, Puyol 7, Víctor Ruiz 12 and Busquets 5, but it was Pique who made the most with a repeat performance of last weekend’s exhibition in the Bernabeu, cutting out Espanyol attacks all night.

Attacking threat too

Piqué also showed his passing abilities in setting up attacks. With Xavi being marked out of the game, it fell to Pique to build from the back. Against Arsenal the young Catalan showed what he could do when he set up Ibra with a long pass and at Cornella he managed a couple of long balls behind the Espanyol defence, which the opposing defence had to be really alert to cut out.

First red card for Alves

Like Piqué, Puyol committed just a single foul all game, whilst the unfortunate Dani Alves committed three and saw his first red card with Barca. The Brazilian had been sent off three times when he was at Seville, including a derby game against Betis when he was sent off by last night’s ref Undiano Mallenco, but last night was the first time he had seen a red with Barca and he will miss next week’s game against Jerez.

Ibrahimovic back

Although Guardiola will be without Alves next week, he should be able to call on a fully fit Ibra, who made his reappearance in the last 12 minutes of the derby game, after missing the matches against Arsenal, Madrid and Deportivo. The Swede’s reappearance is also timely with the Inter game set for Tuesday.