Barcelona’s win at Espanyol was tainted by their centre-back, Gerard Pique, being on the end of more vile chants from the home support.

The defender suggested that the nature of the Blaugrana win dilutes the impact of the abuse.

“I think it’s been four times, but the fans were good and it was a decaffeinated derby because of the result,” he said after the match.

“I don’t regret having said about Espanyol de Cornella.”

On a handful of occasions, Pique went forward to try and score, but without any luck.

“In these games, you already know that I like to join the attack to try to score a goal,” he continued.

Leo Messi was excellent again, and like many of his colleagues, Pique mentioned the Ballon d’Or placing of the Argentinian.

“It seems that Messi saves his best freekicks for games,” he added.

“I think there’s been a lot of talk about the Ballon d’Or, but Leo is the best by miles and those votes are a bit strange.”