Pique opens door to Barcelona exit in emotional interview after hitting ‘rock bottom’ in Bayern Munich thrashing
GERARD PIQUE has offered to leave Barcelona following their embarrassing 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich.
The fallen Catalan giants endured the most humiliating night in their history after being battered by a brilliant Bayern Champions League performance.
The loss was especially painful for boyhood fan Pique, 33, who has made 543 appearances for the club.
Pique admitted Barcelona, five-time winners of the Champions League, “have hit rock-bottom.”
In an emotional interview after the game, he said: “No one is untouchable, least of all me.
“Fresh blood is needed. We’ve have hit rock bottom now. We all need to reflect and see what’s best for Barça.
“Coaches and players follow one another, but it has been several years since we have been able to be competitive on a European level.
“We all have to think internally and decide what is best for the club, for Barca. Tonight was unacceptable for Barcelona.
“It’s very hard to take but I hope it will be useful for something, for us to all think about it.
“The club needs changes. And I’m not talking at the level of the coach or the players, but structurally the club needs changes of all kinds.
“We must bring in new blood to change this dynamic, and if necessary, I would be the first to leave.”
GAME, SET & MATCH
It is likely to be the last game for manager Quique Setien who was already under pressure heading into the contest.
Setien refused to discuss his future at the full-time whistle but is fully aware the writing is on the wall.
He said: “I think that right now it’s too soon to be talking about whether I stay at the club or not.
“The reality is that it doesn’t depend on me.
If Pique says that it’s time for big changes there’s going to be importance to his words.
Quique Setien
“It’s worth all of us working out what’s important and considering a wide range of things which correspond to a defeat of this importance and which is so painful.
“It’s a tremendously painful defeat.
“They scored more goals than they merited. We started pretty well but the power of the opponents, in many phases of the play, overran us.
“If Gerard Pique says that it’s time for big changes there’s going to be importance to his words.
“It’s time for us to review and take the decisions which are needed for the future.”
Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu hardly gave the manager a ringing endorsement when he spoke after the game.
He told Spanish press: “It’s a really heavy defeat.
“I want to congratulate Bayern, who played a great game. They deserve to go through to the semi finals.
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“We weren’t at our best, nor near it. Today was a disaster and now we have to make decisions.
“We’ve already thought about some of them. Today isn’t a day for decisions.
“We want to apologise to the fans, members and Barcelonistas.”