Pique: No excuses for defeat

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique conceded they had no excuses for their 4-0 humbling at the hands of Bayern Munich in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final.

Bayern left Barcelona with a major uphill task in the second leg after a stunning performance at the Allianz Arena.

Two of Bayern's goals could have been ruled out as there was a suspicion of offside over the second goal by Mario Gomez, while Arjen Robben's effort was allowed to stand despite a clear body-check by Thomas Muller on Barcelona defender Jordi Alba.

However, Pique insists they cannot blame the officials for suffering their joint heaviest ever defeat in European competition and admits they were second best to Bayern all over the pitch.

"They gave us a thrashing," admitted Pique. "We will try to turn it around in the return leg and put in a good performance for the fans.

"They were better and faster than us. There is no point talking about the referee, there is no excuse."


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Pregnant Shakira expecting a boy in February

She recently announced she is expecting her first child together with Gerard Pique and now Shakira has done another first.

The Hips Don't Lie singer, who is around six-months pregnant, shared a picture of herself that shows off her baby bump for the very first time.

The 35-year-old looks positively radiant in the image that shows her in a lovely purple dress that cannot hide her growing bump.





The Colombian star posted the picture on Facebook on Saturday afternoon and added the caption: 'Now I don't have a six pack, only one pack!!'

Almost instantly after sharing the intimate photograph fans inundated her with well wishes and congratulations.

The picture received almost 50,000 comments and had near 400,000 people saying they liked it.





The mother-to-be announced last month that she was five months pregnant with her first child.She wrote on her Facebook page: 'As some of you may know, Gerard and I are very happy awaiting the arrival of our first baby!

'At this time we have decided to give priority to this unique moment in our lives and postpone all the promotional activities planned over the next few days.'

Shakira confirmed on his Facebook Account that she is pregnant. 

Her baby joy comes nearly two years after she started dating Pique.

The handsome couple met in 2010 while shooting the video to her song Waka Waka (This Time for Africa).

Since Shakira has announce his pregnancy, she look busy in her  schedule  

The song was the official track of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which was won by Spain.Earlier this year, Shakira and Gerard made the all-important decision to live together and recently purchased a large home in Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona.Her romance with Gerard comes after she was in an 11-year relationship with Argentine lawyer Antonio de la Rua.

Coincidentally, Antonio has also revealed this month he is set to become a father for the first time.

Lucky Gerard has apparently been given this car by the Colombian 

His girlfriend, former Miss Colombia Daniela Ramos, 24, is four months pregnant with his child.

You couldn't even stop him as a kid, says Pique

Leo Messi was an unstoppable force from the first day he set foot on a Barcelona training pitch as a shy and scrawny 13-year-old, according to his team-mate Gerard Pique.

Child's play: Messi (top left) was small for his age as a six-year-old at Rosario.

The 23-year-old Barcelona defender, who was a starry-eyed youngster in the same group as Messi and Cesc Fabregas, remembered how the Argentine stunned everyone despite his apparent frailty.

He said: 'When I was coming through the ranks something happened that was going to change the history of the club - the signing of Leo.





'I remember the first time he trained with us. He was so small we were afraid to touch him because we thought we'd hurt him. But then we all noticed his touch on the ball was not at all bad.

Class acts: Gerard Pique (top left), Cesc Fabregas (top right) and Lionel

Messi were part of a tightly-knit group who came through Barca’s youth ranks.

'Some of the coaches told us not to tackle him too hard so as not to injure him. But even if we wanted to, we couldn't get anywhere near him. He was so quick, he was impossible to tie down.'

Messi's opponents did not take long to resort to foul play to stop the little genius. Pique added: 'The opposition got to him in the second official game he played. He was caught by a terrible challenge. He had to leave the ground in an ambulance.





'He had fractured a bone in his face but, after that, he came right back stronger than ever and that has been the way ever since until he became the Golden Ball winner who we have in the team now.'



Pique said: 'He's always been the way he is now - all that has changed is the context. He does exactly the same things that he did when he was 13 and I wouldn't be what I am today without having come through the ranks alongside him.'

VIDEO: Messi the wonderkid... aged 5!

VIDEO: Messi in his Barca youth days...

Pique surprised by Real´s slow start

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique admits he is surprised by Real Madrid's uncharacteristic start to their La Liga campaign.



The side from the capital lost 2-1 in a shock defeat to Getafe, as Barcelona came from behind to beat Osasuna by the same score, on Sunday.



And Pique picked up on their rivals' poor start to the new league campaign, stating that it will be a long battle to reclaim the title, although he points out there is a long way to go this season.



"It's surprising that Madrid has only one point right now, but they could easily go the next 30 games without a loss," Pique said.



"I was very motivated for this season. It couldn't have started better, but La Liga is about 38 games, not about two."



Meanwhile, Carlos Puyol is a doubt for Barca's vital Spanish Supercopa fixture against rivals Madrid after the 34-year-old suffered a suspected fractured cheekbone in the win over Osasuna, following a collision with Roland Lamah.



"Knowing him, I wouldn't yet say he won't play on Wednesday," joked Pique, who remains optimistic about the fixture.



"We want to win the Super Cup, it would be the fourth in a row. We will go to Madrid trying to win the game."



Real Madrid on Monday completed the signing of Luka Modric, and Pique is keen to see how the Croatian adapts to Spanish football.



"He's a very good player, who can control midfield," he said.



"Now we have to see how he adapts to Madrid and La Liga."