Barcelona star GerardPique has admitted that he and his teammates let themselves down on the weekend, failing to score in a 0-0 draw against a Malaga side which finished the match with just nine men on the pitch.
Luis Enrique's side were without Lionel Messi for the game after a late illness, with Luis Suarez also missing the encounter after picking up a suspension, but Pique refused to blame the missing menfor Barca's failure to win.
Why Barcelona have just given #Celtic some real hope https://t.co/NDJcjjLiwa pic.twitter.com/yePRXaZDVQ
Speaking after the match (viaGoal), he said:"We're Barca and we can't blame absences.We have players that cost a lot of money and a huge budget if we compare it with Malaga's. There are no excuses for not winning.
"It's worrying that we've dropped so many points at home. No one wants to draw against a rival that in theory we should beat.We've dropped two points."
Enrique echoed his defender's sentiment in his ownpost-match comments, saying:"We have lost with Messi, with Luis Suarez, without Messi, without Luis Suarez.Squads win titles. Messi must be really ill to miss a match, but it's nothing serious. He's already recovering."
✈�⚽� Next challenge: away games in the Champions League, Liga and Copa del Rey! More info here: https://t.co/79eoE9x44R #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/NXLySCyqeA
He added:"We are disappointed. We didn't expect them to be so deep.The density of the opposition players was incredible. They've put 10 men in their area so there was always going to be very few clear chances.
"We've had enough chances despite that, though. In the second half we generated a lot. But it's always difficult against a rival that sits so deep. We weren't counting on losing these two points."
For more from Chris when he's not writing on 90min, follow him on Twitter at@ThatChris1209