The Argentinian delivered a superb man-of-the-match display as Catalonians took the advantage in the first leg of Copa del Rey.
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Espanyol held the European champions 0-0 in a bad-tempered first of three meetings between the sides in 10 days at the weekend and threatened an upset early on through Felipe Caicedo’s composed finish.
“If he is fit – and it takes a while to get up to match pace because he has been away for a while, even though he has been playing with Turkey – we will start seeing minutes from him, especially in the Copa del Rey”.
Espanyol took an surprise ninth-minute lead through Marco Asensio, only to see Lionel Messi level things up four minutes later.
Espanyol had Hernan Perez sent off for two bookings and Pape Diop for dissent before Neymar hit a brilliant volley. Iniesta and Messi combined down the left, with the latter crossing for Pique to slide home from close range.
“I was pleased with Arda and Aleix, it’s clear that it’s been while since both of them last competed”, he said.
And Barcelona boss Luis Enrique praised the referee’s more strict approach to Espanyol’s roughhouse tactics in midweek, comparing the visitors’ style to American football. Argentinean ace Leonel Messi received a great through-ball from Andreas Iniesta and then fired the ball beyond the keeper in the 13th minute to put the Catalans back in business.
Pau Lopez had to be alert when Messi broke through, with the Espanyol goalkeeper again leaping at the feet of a Barcelona forward to maintain his clean sheet, but his goal was breached soon after.
Perez’s second booking was followed by Diop seeing red for something he apparently said to Suarez in the 75th.
Striker Alvaro Negredo scored a hat-trick, including two second-half penalties, as Valencia thrashed Granada 4-0 to lift the club who have yet to pick up a La Liga victory under new manager Gary Neville.
Sevilla midfielder Michael Krohn-Dehli dribbled past two Betis players before scoring his solo effort in the 14th, followed by Grzegorz Krychowiak adding another shortly after halftime when Betis’ hesitant defenders failed to clear the ball.
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Holders Barcelona face city rivals Espanyol later while La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid have a derby against Rayo Vallecano.
