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Gerard Pique blames three players as Barcelona lose to Real Madrid

By Atharva Khadilkar

MADRID, SPAIN - MARCH 01: Gerard Pique of FC Barcelona walks off the pitch after the warm up prior to the Liga match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 01, 2020 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - MARCH 01: Gerard Pique of FC Barcelona walks off the pitch after the warm up prior to the Liga match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 01, 2020 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona central defender was critical of Real Madrid despite losing against them on Sunday, but has boiled down on three of his own teammates too.

Barcelona left the Santiago Bernabeu with minimal margin of error as a 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid sent them to second place in La Liga and also meant that their fate in Spain’s top flight lies in the hands of their arch rivals. With that said, the Catalans still have to visit some difficult La Liga stadiums and away days have been days to forget this season for them.

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Quique Setien fielded an experienced and expected line-up, having seemed to be spot on with his tactics as well. However, the players dropped in a nightmare of a performance and there was no blaming the coach after the defeat to Los Blancos. Don Balon has claimed that Gerard Pique has boiled down on three players after the debacle against Zidane’s side.

First and foremost, the blunt was passed onto Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman got the all important away goal in Napoli, but besides that he has not done a great job against the bigger sides. He missed a pretty easy chance in the first half on Sunday after Jordi Alba cut back a sublime ball, and that could’ve been definitive of the result.

Griezmann has been playing in an impeded role to be fair on his part, but there have been moments where he could pull the trigger himself in the final third. The former Atletico Madrid forward’s decision making has let him down and the Real Madrid outing was the perfect occasion, where he was even caught in compact positions.

Arthur Melo was another man who did not do very well. Just like Griezmann, he failed in converting a golden chance in a one-versus-one situation with Thibaut Courtois. The Brazil international was outshined by Federico Valverde in the centre of the park and did not have much of a say in the midfield either, where he usually performs excellently.

Lastly, Frenkie de Jong was blamed for a horrible display. The former Ajax Amsterdam midfielder was not at all at his best and could not support Lionel Messi in the creativity from the engine room. There was a lot of hype in the summer regarding his move to the Camp Nou, but to be honest Federico Valverde has done better than him in all departments.

In their next outing over the coming weekend, the Blaugrana host Real Sociedad in the Camp Nou and will look to get back to winning ways after two winless matches. On any other day, this would have been a fixture that was easy to call for, but with La Real pushing for a Champions League spot and Barca struggling, this match could go one way or another.

Next. Barcelona identify Pique's successor at Tottenham Hotspur. dark

Do you think Pique is write to individually blame the players he has?

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