Once again, Gerard Piqué did not hold back when speaking about a Spanish referee. This time, his words were aimed at Mateu Lahoz, the man with the whistle in the first leg of the 2018-19 Copa del Rey semi-finals between Los Blaugranas and Real Madrid.
The center back questioned some of Lahoz's calls during the game, which included many controversial plays where Sergio Ramos was involved. According to Piqué's judgement, fellow defender Sergio Ramos made it to the end of the game thanks to the ref's poor judgement.
"He has a criteria of his own, all we have to do is play and adapt to the circumstances. On the surface, I think he believes he had a good game. I think that he should have sent Ramos off, but what can you do. Being Mateu the one we're talking about, we can be happy about the outcome of the game," Piqué stated.
The defender, who was praised by most experts due to his timely interventions, shared his views on Lionel Messi's role as a substitute, hinting that the Argentine risked a major injury for stepping up to help.
"We knew that he was in pain. He knew it and we knew it. There are some key games cominh up and it's better for us to have him in tune and fit. We knew that if he had decided to play the full game, he would have suffered. It was wise of him to play a portion of the second half," Piqué added.
Some of Barcelonas's finest memories in recent history have come when Los Blaugranas visit the Bernabeu. Even if their recent outings in the Spanish capital have ended in victory, Piqué does not believe that playing there gives Barcelona some edge over Los Blancos.
We've done OK over there in the past few years, but that doesn't mean that we will have any advantage over them. The final score keeps us alive for the second leg, let's hope that all of us make it to that game," Piqué concluded.
