Piqué: “The best and the worst is that we know each other well”

The defender explained what he expects from the two-leg tie against AC Milan.
He’s clear: “we’ll see two fantastic games, it’ll be a great tie”.



In the press conference before the Milan-Barça Champions League quarter-final clash, Gerard Piqué talked about what he expects from tomorrow’s match at the San Siro. “The best and the worst thing about this match up is that we know each other. We’ll try to play a good game and it’s clear that scoring away from home is very important in the Champions League.” The defender said that his team “is on form after a managing to securing a couple of wins consecutively” and that Barça will try to impose their style of play from the first minute. “We know that we have the return leg at the Camp Nou, but we have to leave everything on the pitch.”

The Catalan warned that his team’s opponent is “among the best three teams in the history of the sport; of course we can be eliminated. We’ll give it our all. We’ll see two fantastic games, it’ll be a great tie.” Piqué also refused to talk about which team is favoured to go through to the semi-final: “we’re the current champions and they like to give us the mantle of favourite. But that’s not worth anything, you have to show it on the pitch. We have to play at our best to be in Munich.”

Piqué played a superb game and scored the winner in the match against Mallorca this weekend. “More than anything else, I’m sticking with my overall game over the goal, with how I feel personally. The most decisive part of the season is here and I hope I can help,” said the defender. It hasn’t been an easy season for the Catalan: “it’s been a complicated year. I started with an injury and it was difficult to plug into the team dynamic. When I was on the bench, it’s because my teammates were playing better than me.”

Piqué praised the man that he’ll, in most likelihood, have to mark tomorrow, Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “he’s one of the world’s best players. He’s very difficult to stop, he’s a very complete player. He’s fantastic in the air and he’s great with the ball at his feet - we have to be alert and try to deny him the ball. We can’t let him breathe because he’s having a fantastic year.” (via FCBarcelona.com)