Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 9y

Barcelona's Luis Enrique denies falling out with defender Gerard Pique

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique hit out at reports that he and defender Gerard Pique have had a falling-out, saying the claims were a result of the media "exaggerating."

Pique has not featured for Barca since a poor performance in the 3-1 clasico defeat at Real Madrid on Oct. 25, watching the subsequent games against Celta Vigo and Ajax either from the bench or the stands.

Reports in the Madrid press alleged that the Barcelona coach viewed Spain international Pique as "undisciplined" and was unhappy to see him apparently using his mobile phone on the bench during the Catalan Supercopa game against Espanyol.

That led to rumours in the British media that he could be set to return to the Premier League, with his former club Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City among those said to be monitoring the situation.

Asked about the situation at Friday's news conference, Enrique said: "Pique is doing everything a footballer can do.

"It is you [the media] who is exaggerating. If I have a problem with a player, I like to be direct with them. But thankfully that has not happened here.

"I am not speaking any more about this matter. You have already asked me three questions about just one player."

Enrique was asked whether he thought the fact that he had mostly deployed former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez wide on the right was the reason the Uruguayan had failed to score in his first three official Barca games.

"Luis Suarez is not a winger, that is clear -- but he can play out wide and bring things to the team," he said. "Any of the three players we have up top can play in any of the three positions."

And asked whether he was happy with how quickly his team was gelling together this season, he said: "Sometimes it goes more quickly, and sometimes more slowly. Sometimes things go better than I expected, sometimes we slip backwards. There are a lot of new things."

He warned his players not to underestimate Saturday's opponents Almeria, despite the fact that they have taken only one point from their last four games after a bright start.

"We are always worried about the usual things in football," he said. "They are an opponent that have not won at home, but they have improved on last season."

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