DBasia.news – Barcelona defender Gerard Pique won’t brag about the squad’s success in securing the leading position of Group B Champions League after the 2-1 victory against the host PSV Eindhoven on the 5th match at Philips Stadium, Eindhoven.
The victory placed Barcelona as the leader with 13 points and won’t be followed by Tottenham Hotspur (7) or Inter Milan (7).
“We won the group phase and it’s nice to realize that the knockout round is coming,” Pique said.
Barcelona’s success in leading the Group B continues the positive trend in 12 consecutive seasons.
Despite 12 times leading the group, Barcelona’s journey wasn’t always smooth. They just reached the final round three times despite the champion title achievements.
But, in three recent seasons, Barcelona’s journey always stopped in the quarter-final, 2-3 aggregate against Atletico Madrid in 2015-2016, 0-3 against Juventus in the next season, and defeated with 4-4 away goal aggregate against Roma last season.
Pique insists that his squad must not be careless ahead of the qualification phase despite the easy winning.
“But recent seasons showed that one bitter night could kick you from the competition,” he said.