Barcelona defender Gerard Pique believes the club's priority remains La Liga this season as they prepare to get their Champions League campaign underway.
The Spanish champions face Eredivsie title-holders Ajax on Wednesday at Camp Nou as they look to put last season's humbling defeat to Bayern Munich behind them, but Pique believes too much focus on lifting Europe's top prize can ultimately work against a team come the end of the season.
I think Barcelona’s role is to win the league above all, he told a press conference. "The Champions League is an extra that means you have had a tremendously good season. If you base everything on winning the Champions League, things can look bad if you don’t end up doing so - that’s why the league is more important. Against Bayern last season we weren’t comfortable, they were better than us, and that’s it. We won the league last season in a tremendous fashion and that is valuable.
Pique recently claimed Barcelona have suffered from becoming overly-reliant on their tiki-taka brand of football in recent seasons, and the defender has clarified the importance of finding a suitable 'Plan B' in attack - something which he hopes they will find under Gerardo Martino this season.
I recently said we became too predictable," he continued. "People thought I was criticising our style of play, but if we changed that style we wouldn't have won so many titles and we wouldn't be here now. Clubs know how we play and opponents can predict our moves and create danger with counter-attacks. We need alternatives when we attack to be able to score goals, be faster in getting to the box.
We have spoken to Martino about changes and we have a team with very offensive players. When we're 3-0 up, we carry on attacking when other clubs would sit on that result - we don't know how to do that. This club can't consider that option.
Finally, Pique acknowledged the benefit of Barca's La Masia contingent breaking into the side over recent years, admitting that the emergence of the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi has been the only way they have coped with the spending power of Real Madrid.
Popular Posts
-
David de Gea insists Manchester United head to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in high spirits after beating Bayer Leverkusen in midweek. Dav...
-
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola believes his side will continue to improve once key players recover from injury and his squad continu...
-
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti says he could imagine retiring in the Spanish capital. Ancelotti took over the reins from Jose Mourin...
-
Real Madrid are prepared to splash out up to €400 million in an attempt to revamp the Santiago Bernabeu into the world's finest footb...
-
Manchester United need to sign "three top-class footballers" if they are to compete for trophies, says former Chelsea manager...
-
Roma have confirmed that Francesco Totti has signed a two-year contract extension that will see him remain at Stadio Olimpico until 201...
-
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson feels the club are poised for further success, despite their poor start to the season....
-
Former Germany boss Erich Ribbeck has piled the pressure on Joachim Low, insisting failure at next year's World Cup would be unforgiva...
-
Wayne Rooney could be in line for a new contract at Manchester United if his scoring form continues, according to the club's former...
-
Former Barcelona assistant coach Henk Ten Cate believes that Lionel Messi 's ability is unrivalled in world football, claiming C...
Sortt-Info
Sportt-Info
Sportt-Info
Sportt-Info