FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique admitted that the team is "bit broken" after the departure of Lionel Messi from the club, despite registering a 3-0 win over Juventus to claim the Joan Gamper Trophy.
The six-times Ballon d'Or winner on Sunday confirmed the end of his 21-year stint with the Catalan club as Messi was left in tears while bidding adieu to his boyhood club. Messi in a press conference also stated that his signing with PSG remains a possibility, but nothing is certain at the moment.
"The team was honestly a bit broken because of Messi's departure, we will lose the magic in attack, but we have to move forward, the fans expect a lot from us," Gerard Pique said.
"We lose the best player of all time. It has hurt us and it hurt him too. I don't know the whole story, the two parties have said that it has been a matter of numbers... The management of the last years hasn't helped, but history shows that we will get up."
"People really want to come to the stadium and we have to cheer the fans. We have to start winning and give them nice things. We need the fans with us."
On-field, Barcelona responded brilliantly as they defeated Juventus 3-0 to win the Joan Gamper trophy. Despite a difficult week for the hosts, this win will boost their morale as they head into their first game of the season against Real Sociedad. Juventus, meanwhile, still have one warm-up match left against Atalanta next week.
( With inputs from ANI )
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