Gerard Pique Lays Into His Team-Mates After Barca's Abject Defeat to Atletico Madrid

Gerard Pique was livid with his Barcelona teammates last night, in the wake of the side's 2-0 defeat to defending La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.

Following the loss of Lionel Messi to PSG, the club has since struggled massively both domestically and in Europe.

Fresh of a humiliating 3-0 loss to Benfica, where the away side failed to register a single shot on target, things weren't expected to get much better for Ronald Koeman's men this weekend - who journeyed to Atletico's Wanda Metropolitano stadium.

A favourable run of fixtures at the start of the season had allowed Barca to go six games undefeated in La Liga, but last night's clash against Diego Simeone's side was a stark reality check of where they really are.

Atletico wrapped up the win in the first half, with goals from Thomas Lemar, and former Catalan favourite, Luis Suarez.

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Speaking after the convincing defeat, Pique certainly didn't hold back in his assessment of their performance.

Following a very public spat on the pitch with captain Sergio Busquets over not tracking back, the 34-year-old admitted to Spanish outlet Marca: "We could play for three hours and still not score."

The defender also attempted to downplay his heated exchange with Busquets, arguably due to his concerns over the optics of the club's two most experienced men laying into one another.

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"We had spoken about when [Thomas] Lemar lays the ball off and Joao Felix runs forward they outnumber you and someone has to follow him. But this is the nervousness that comes in these situations," Pique added.

"This is the result we didn't want but we have to rest now in the break and come back strong. We were brave but they scored from very little. All we can do is to keep fighting. The two goals are very similar in that they come at us with numerical superiority."

The loss led to Ronald Koeman, who is under increasing pressure at the club, to blame youngster Nico Gonzalez for the first goal.

Koeman's mood would have been further hit by the sight of Suarez scoring, after the Dutchman's infamous phone call to end the Uruguayan's time at Barcelona last year.

Next up for Barcelona is a home tie against the ever-dangerous Valencia, although whether the club will still have a permanent manager by then remains to be seen.

Topics: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique, Ronald Koeman, La Liga

Tom Fenton