Gerard Piqué stood up for the team after the humiliating defeat on the European stage and shared his thoughts during the post-match interview, to which Quique Setién and Josep Bartomeu joined.
After the humiliation in the quarterfinals of the Champions League against Bayern Munich where Barça fell 8 goals to 2, making it his worst loss ever in European competitions.
From the field, the bench and even the offices, some of those responsible for Barcelona spoke about the sad situation of the club. For the third year in a row the Catalan club is out of the Champions League after a disappointing performance, but unlike in previous years, this time it seems that Barça has hit rock bottom.
At the end of the game, one of the team captains, Gerard Piqué, stood up and spoke with the Movistar Champions League media about the feelings, the team, the club situation after a blow of this dimension and the imminent need for restructuring in the club through his self-criticism.
“It was a horrible game, a disastrous feeling, shame is the word. You can’t compete like this, you can’t go to Europe like this, it’s not the first, nor the second, nor the third time is very hard and I hope it serves for something.”
“I think the club needs changes. I’m not talking about the coach or the players, I don’t want to point out anyone. I think structurally the club needs all types of changes.”
“No one is indispensable. I am the first to leave if new blood has to come and change this dynamic because we’ve hit rock bottom.”
“We all have to reflect internally and decide what is best for the club, for Barcelona, which is the most important thing. This is unacceptable for a club like Barcelona.”
“In Europe, we do not compete and in the League, it is no longer enough. You can not mask it more.”
“End of an era? I don’t know how to name it. We have hit rock bottom and there has to be a change in all aspects, not just players. A point has come where we are not going the right way. It is shown in results, on the field in which we have been for years no matter the coach, or the players, we do not compete, and in the League, it is no longer enough.”
“A team like Barça that has to be at the top, winning and competing … is the harsh reality. We have reached a point where there is no more, you can no longer mask something that is seen, that is reflected in the field and Today is something unacceptable for a club like FC Barcelona.”
As the club’s chairman, the president, Josep Bartomeu, spoke at the end of the game and was identified as responsible for the decline of the club in recent years. Despite the media noise calling for his resignation, Bartomeu did not express himself about the elections or his future in the Barça entity.
“We are going to make decisions, some of them were already known before the Champions League, others we will take now, and we will announce all of them in the coming weeks. Today is not the day to explain the decisions, today is the day to apologize to the fans and socis of FC Barcelona because we have not been the team and the club that we have to be.”
“It is a very hard night, a very hard defeat. We must congratulate Bayern because they have been much superior and have deserved to pass, not like us, who have not deserved to pass, we have not been at our level or at the height of what we should be.”
“Piqué is right, it has been a disaster and from there you have to make decisions. Today is a day to reflect and be very sad and from tomorrow try to lift the spirits of the Catalans from all over the world because today we are very sad.”
Finally, Barcelona’s manager Quique Setién, with his future in the air and according to Sky Sports already sentenced, also interviewed by Movistar, shared his point of view on the difficult situation that the Catalans are going through.
“I’m not going to get into that, because I’ve only been here for six or eight months, but when a player like Piqué, who has been at Barcelona all his life, reflects on these, surely something will be true.”
“The defeat hurts a lot, it is necessary for Barça to recover its identity and surely things will have to change. Now there is enormous frustration and it only remains to draw conclusions and make the decisions that have to be made thinking about the future. Barça is such a big club that this does a lot of damage and surely something will have to change.”
“Now everything is too hot to think if I’m going to continue or not. It is not up to me. We must reflect accordingly, taking into account the situation and the importance for Barcelona of this humiliating and painful defeat. I have been hurt by this huge defeat the way it happened. Not only do I worry about my future, because I already know the profession I have chosen, but because of how painful it is for the fans and for the club.“
“I am aware of what a defeat of this calibre entails. What has happened must be analyzed from a broader perspective, but the credibility of a coach when this happens decreases. But it is not what matters to me right now, what worries me is to accept a defeat like this because of the hardness and forcefulness of the result and because, except for the first minutes, in which we have had our chances, they have clearly surpassed us.”
“There is no constructive message right now that can serve. We are all tremendously frustrated, we as professionals and the fans. You have to accept this defeat and assimilate it because it is already inevitable now. You have to think that the future will be better and that you have to improve this image.”
“It is a tremendously painful defeat. We had started well, but we have been overwhelmed by their effectiveness. Bayern’s forcefulness has overtaken us.”
With an eye to the club’s hectic immediate future, everything shows that strong and needed changes are coming, although only time will tell. The fans are tired and the team, as one of their captains said, hitting rock bottom, times of revolution are expected in Barcelona.
