Barcelona defender Gerard Pique believes his side lost to the ‘worst Real Madrid he has faced at the Bernabeu’ as the Catalans fell to a 2-0 defeat in El Clasico on Sunday.
Goals from Vinicius Junior and Mariano Diaz earned Madrid a win with three points allowing the home side to leapfrog Barcelona into outright leadership in the League.
With the match without a goal at half-time, Pique revealed he was shocked at the low level of Real’s performance in the first period and was disappointed to not take advantage of it.
“Real Madrid in the first half was the worst Madrid I’ve faced at the Bernabeu,” Pique said in the post-match.
“We missed a chance to hurt them. We have to play better than in second half, though, we lost balls and they grew in confidence.”
When asked if he was bothered by losing Real Madrid, Pique said: “Yes, they were giving off the worst possible impression and I don’t say it as a criticism. We all have problems in our clubs.
“But I have the feeling that it’s an important missed opportunity [for Barcelona].”
Gerard Pique was involved in Madrid’s opener in the 71st minute with Vinicius’ shot deflecting off him to wrong foot Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
“We still have a margin of improvement and it is enough for us to win La Liga if we do things well until the end of the season – but we have to do them well,” Pique said.
“Whenever you lose [at the Bernabeu], you get hurt. Because of the importance of the game, the points … If we won, it was an important step.
“We have to focus on improving, especially on our second half performance.”
