Valverde: "The yellow card shown to Piqué was a bit harsh"

Ernesto Valverde gave his thoughts on his team's 0-3 win away at Leganés - a result which puts Barcelona seven points clear of nearest rivals Valencia (who are away at Espanyol later today) and 10 points ahead of Real Madrid and Atlético, who played out a goalless draw in the capital.

What are your sensations after today's win at Butarque?

The sensations are good. It was a difficult game and at times, we struggled to play our game and Leganés did a good job of closing us down. They are avery hard-working team, they defend well and they were leaving us exposed. So it was a very complicated match. They took more risks in the second half and we resolved the game well.

Do you think the final score was excessive in relation to what we saw on the pitch?

Possibly. I'm told that we dominated more than it seemed. I have to say that Leganés had their chances too but we knew how to grit our teeth and pressurize them at the key moments.

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Barcelona grinding out results

Are Barça more reliable than brilliant?

It depends how you look at it. Today's game was complicated and we haven't been playing amazingly well but that's because of the teams we have been up against. You have to know how to play here at Butarque, under these circumstances. We were pushed all the way but we're going home with points. Hay que mejorar pero en estos campos no se pueden escapar puntos.

You said before the game that you weren't thinking about Mestalla but now Piqué is suspended...

It was a circumstance which could have happened and it did. It's not something which I regret doing as the important thing was making sure we won today.

You protested at the booking...

I protested because Amrabat is a player who enjoys contact. The public were pressurizing the ref and for me it was foul - but for us. It was a harsh decision to book Gerard.

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