Tuesday 24 February 2015 19:41, UK
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has refused to condemn Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi’s trip to a casino just hours before the squad flew to England for their Champions League clash with Manchester City.
Pique and Messi - part of the Barcelona side that suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Malaga at the weekend - were pictured outside the Casino de Barcelona late on Sunday alongside Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas.
But Enrique had no interest in speaking about ”gossip” at his pre-Manchester City press conference, claiming his squad were fully focused on the challenge ahead of them at the Etihad.
“No gossip. Not interested,” the coach said. “It forms part of his private life. I concentrate on football. I’m not concerned about things outside of it."
When Pique was asked by Spanish journalists if he had anything to say about his night out with Messi, the former Manchester United defender replied: “No. It is my private life. I just had a nice night.”
Barcelona won 11 consecutive games before suffering defeat at the weekend and Enrique - whose relationship with Messi is reported to have been strained at times this term - was once again asked about morale in the camp.
But Pique quashed any talks of problems or in-fighting.
“No, there is no problem between us and the manager,” he said. “We get on fine, the relationship is good. We don’t have to worry about it. It is just one defeat, it is behind us now.
“We have shown how we can play here in the past.”
Barcelona claimed a 2-0 win at the home of the Premier League champions on their way to a 4-1 aggregate win at the same stage of last season’s competition.
And Enrique believes his side are fully motivated to go even further in this year’s competition.
“We have to aspire to win everything because we are Barca. We have to change our mentality because we are going into a different competition with a tie over two legs,” he said.
“To come to play in a country like England with a footballing tradition motivates the players, more so against a side who are candidates to win the competition.
“In this kind of tie with two teams looking to win the competition, there is no favourite.”
