A huge test for Piqué after the international break

It was only a short time ago that Gerard Piqué announced his retirement from the Spanish national team after the World Cup, in order to focus on his Barcelona career. The veteran chose to seek refuge in club football , paving way for the next crop of footballers to build a new future for the national side. 

However, nobody could have imagined the shockingly bad start that he would make to the 18/19 season.  It has been further pointed out by the multiple high profile errors he has made, which live in stark contrast to the combative and motivational role he embodied within the Spanish national team. 

The 'Azulgrana' has used his time off to focus his mind on other things  the new Davis Cup continues to be a daily hobby- as well as getting back on the pitch as soon as possible.

The thing is that he is not the only person that wants to see himself back in action. The Barcelona supporters hope that he will return to form and provide an anecdote to the problems which caused him to commit five errors in four games, costing Barça nine points in the process.

In contrast to their rapid lift off last season; Barcelona currently find themselves level with Real Madrid and lagging behind leaders Sevilla. Despite the slump, the team are focussed, but anything can happen and the idea of what could have been still resonates strongly within the Barcelona camp, with much emphasis on the terrible costly errors that saw them unnecessarily drop points.

The pressure on Clement Lenglet to form a strong link with the central defenders, as a new leader of the rearguard, has been intense, and is now going to be more stretched than ever due to the casualties of Thomas Vermaelen and Samuel Umtiti. 

Too many issues for a footballer if it were not for the subject being Gerard Piqué. The defender has been able to cope with criticism throughout his entire career and seems ready to rise to the challenge once again. Nevertheless, this surely will not be the last controversial episode of the Catalan's career.