Real Madrid's attitude towards referees has been criticised by Gerard Pique. There was anger at Real Madrid over the way the recent basketball Copa del Rey final ended and Los Blancos have also expressed frustration at some refereeing decisions in LaLiga Santander, but Pique pointed out that some calls have also gone in their favour.
"It happens in basketball and in football," he said, when asked about the capital city club's criticism of officiating as he answered questions after Barcelona's 0-0 draw with Lyon. "Then they go to the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano and they're quiet for a while after what happened there. "It's a good thing they don't do other sports, like handball or hockey, as they'd complain about those too."
He went on to discuss the basketbal final in further detail: "I am very proud of the team, as they were underdogs and won it in Madrid," he said of the match. "They were gladiators against the European champions. "Then there was the refereeing controversy, but first they favoured Real Madrid and then Barcelona. "If the referees hadn't made any mistakes at all then Barcelona would have won. "All the rest is just noise to try to cover the fact that Barcelona were champions."
He also discussed the evening's Champions League match and Barcelona's goalless draw: "The team has improved, although we must still do more," he told reporters. "We had chances and it's true that it was difficult when we tried to score. "But I am generally content. "I think we've improved, but we can improve even more. "The truth is that we weren't clinical up front, but that doesn't overly worry me. "Those up front have shown over their careers that they can score lots of goals and the ball will end up going in.
"Luis Suarez always scores a lot for us and will keep doing so."I've been here for many years and we've often had a dip in form in February or March. "It even happened during the Pep Guardiola days. "We need to keep going and keep trying to get good results."
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