Alves: Pique has every right to be angry

Dani Alves believes Barcelona team-mate Gerard Pique has a right to feel aggrieved over his dismissal in their 3-1 win over Sporting Gijon.

Pique was issued a straight red card by referee Carlos Velasco Carballo after bundling over Miguel de las Cuevas as the striker attempted to get in on goal in the early stages of the second half on Saturday.

The Spain international was enraged by his sending off and had to be restrained by Alves, who admitted afterwards he could understand his colleague’s frustration.

“Talking about the referees is a lost cause,” the Brazil international said.

“(But) Gerard Pique has his reasons to be angry.”

Alves preferred instead to focus on the fact that Barca had demonstrated impressive resilience and character in reducing their deficit to La Liga leaders Real Madrid to seven points.

“We have to value the great work we did tonight,” the right-back said. “We’re happy because we don’t have a margin of error.”

“We have to keep on going with this attitude and with it we’ll keep our title hopes alive.”

Given their struggles in seeing off Sporting – even with 11 players on the field – Alves believes they can ill afford to lose Lionel Messi for any more matches, with the Argentine having missed the game at Camp Nou through suspension.

“It’s obvious when Messi isn’t on the pitch,” the former Sevilla man said. “He’s the best player in the world.”

Barcelona must now turn their attention to the Champions League as they welcome Bayer Leverkusen to Catalunya on Wednesday for the second leg of their last-16 tie.