Barcelona's Gerard Pique Has Returned to a World-Class Level
Gerard Pique won the match for Barcelona, as much as Jeremy Mathieu did.
The French centre-back was the man who scored the goal which split Barcelona and Celta Vigo at Balaidos, but without his partner in crime, there was no way Luis Enrique's side would have emerged with three vital points.
The minute before Mathieu's header, Pique made a phenomenal, last-ditch, match-winning tackle in his own box.
Celta Vigo substitute Charles could see the whites of Claudio Bravo's eyes and was poised to pull the trigger.
By flying back at a speed setting Pique hasn't utilised much in the past couple of seasons, he darted in and made a quite phenomenal tackle.
Fast forward for one moment, and Pique is at the other end of the pitch, celebrating what proved to be the decisive goal with Mathieu.
But this wasn't just one key moment. Pique has been coming up with them for a few months now, something that was hard to imagine in November last year.
At the start of that month, Pique had only started seven of 14 La Liga matches, with Mathieu and Mascherano the partnership of Lucho's choice.
When he did play, things weren't going particularly well. He gave away the penalty in Barcelona's first Clasico defeat, which Cristiano Ronaldo converted, the first goal Barcelona conceded in La Liga this season.
Off the pitch there were problems, too. There was the incident where he was caught arguing in the street with Barcelona police.
Then there was the criticism he received for goofing around on the bench with his phone during the Catalan Super Cup.
Sport's Marti Perarnau believes Pique's time at Barcelona, after returning from Manchester United can be measured in two three-year cycles. From 2008 to 2011, where he excelled, and from 2011 to 2014, where he hit rock bottom. Perarnau wrote:
"He arrived and was not immediately a key part of the defence, meaning that expectations were not too high. Teachers like Carles Puyol, Rafa Marquez, Eric Abidal and Gabriel Milito showed Pique not just how to play football, but the attitude he needed to have. They taught him, corrected him. Pep Guardiola had unbounded confidence in Pique and the sum of all these factors led to him becoming a truly great defender.
The following three years have been disappointing. Pique started a decline which seemed impossible to stop. The reasons for this he knows better than anyone, and it's not for me to list them. The decline was sharp and when Pique stepped forward and admitted it, that was important for his recovery.
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One reason for the decline was that those teachers slowly faded away and were never replaced.
But perhaps Pique has realised that he is experienced enough to be one of these teachers himself, to show the likes of young Marc Bartra the way.
In 2015, a new cycle has started, and it seems to be going well. Off the pitch, instead of bad news stories, there are positive ones.
He has had another child with his partner, Shakira, and then there was this story about Pique stopping to help the victim of a traffic accident.
Being a good person doesn't make you a good footballer, but it's nice to draw parallels between these good moments and his rise in form.
There is no doubt that Pique playing like he has done in 2015 is among the best defenders on the planet.
Barcelona would not pick a single player ahead of him at the moment, even if they were allowed to make transfers.
He was Man of the Match in El Clasico, and you could make a strong case for him picking up the award again against Celta Vigo.
With nine matches to go in La Liga, including games against Valencia, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid, Barcelona need Pique to keep this level.
With Paris Saint-Germain, a side that have already put four goals past Barcelona this season, their Champions League quarter-final opponents, Barcelona need an alert, attentive, focused Pique.
With Bilbao's Athletic Club in the final of the Copa del Rey, Barcelona need the Pique that won the treble in his first season with the club.
And right now, it looks like that Gerard Pique will be ready and available for selection.
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