Published 08:30 IST, November 6th 2019
Slavia Prague hold Barcelona to a goalless draw in Champions League
Barcelona was held to a 0-0 draw by Slavia Prague in the Champions League group match on Tuesday evening. After the match, Pique called for more patience
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Barcelona was held to a 0-0 draw by Slavia Prague in the Champions League group match on Tuesday evening. Although the draw keeps the Spanish club at the top of Group F, it does not guarantee a place in the Round of 16.
Another off day for the Catalans
It was a frustrating night for Messi and company, who on the night, came close to scoring but were never able to produce the final ball. The closest the five-time European champions came to a goal was Lionel Messi's shot that hit the corner of the goalframe in the 35th minute. The match turned out to be even more frustrating since Jordi Alba suffered a hamstring injury and had to be subbed off. The club later stated that he was substituted at half time because of a relapse of his left hamstring injury.
The pressure only increases for manager Ernesto Valverde who later said, "It's okay for people to demand. You always like to win. Today, the truth is that we have not been right [when it has come to converting the] clear chances that we have had. They, without creating clear opportunities, caused danger when they stole the ball from us because they came out very fast against us. We couldn't convert the dominance we had into opportunities. The other day we lost against Levante and we understand that it wasn't one of our best games. Neither that one nor today's. We haven't played two perfect games and we know that there is a lot of pressure towards the team and we have to bounce back."
Defender Gerard Piqué asked for patience from the fans and support for the manager. He said, "Results aren't going our way in these last two games, and when you go two games without winning at Barca the fans expect more because expectations are so high. It's difficult to say right now but there have been times when we've not looked good in the past and we've ended up winning trophies. With Luis Enrique it looked like things weren't working for the first six months and then we won the Treble. I would ask for a little patience. I know the fans want more, we understand that, but we're working hard to find the solutions. Not so much in terms of results, but in terms of how we're playing."
07:44 IST, November 6th 2019