Pep Guardiola insists Gerard Pique is untouchable at Barcelona
Posted Wednesday, February 15, 2012 by YAHOO Sport
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola insists that Gerard Pique is still a key player for the Blaugrana despite his exclusion from the match squad in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
The center back did not feature in the first leg of Barca's round of 16 tie with the Germans, but Guardiola stressed that his omission had nothing to do with his relatively disappointing performances in recent weeks.
Instead, Guardiola has stated that Pique was rested ahead of this weekend's Primera Division clash at home against Valencia.
"On Saturday we don’t have [Javier] Mascherano or [Dani] Alves, so I couldn’t afford to lose Gerard," Guardiola said during the postmatch press conference.
"I called up [Marc] Bartra because we needed him and I wanted him to be on the bench. Pique knows that I have lots of love for him. For us, he’s untouchable."
Photos
More»
[PICTURE SPECIAL] Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
Wednesday April 24 2024
Marcos Llorente’s wife wows in barely there swimsuit
Wednesday April 24 2024
Your Say