Umtiti: Pique explained to us what was happening on the day of the referendum
Barça played their match against Las Palmas behind closed doors
Samuel Umtiti has spoken about how the players experienced that day
Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti is in his second season with the Catalan club. And his second year at Camp Nou has coincided with the complicated political situation currently ongoing in the country. The Frenchman explained that on Oct. 1, the day of the independence referendum, it was Gerard Pique who explained to the players what was happening.
"Gerard explained to us what was happening, he has the right to express himself. He's a really intelligent person, a brave guy. Afterwards, he was still able to focus [on the game]. It was important to win that day, even though there were other things going on. It was strange [playing behind closed doors] but we couldn't do anything other than winning the game," Umtiti said in an interview with Ara of the day that an emotional Pique appeared in the mixed zone to speak about the police violence against voters.
Umtiti has praise for his centre-back partner: "He's a great professional, an intelligent person... he took the right decision and he played."
The France international also said Pique and Sergi Roberto, who both voted in the referendum, didn't need convincing to play: "To play the game was the president's decision and they understood. Was it necessary to play without fans? Everyone accepted the decision."
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