Gerard Pique: 'We had to win the league twice'

Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique has claimed that his team 'had to win the La Liga title twice' after the Catalan outfit secured the championship on the final weekend of the season.

Despite leading the division by 11 points in the middle of March, Barcelona needed to beat Granada on Saturday afternoon to fight off a challenge from Real Madrid and make it back-to-back titles.

Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as the Catalan giants recorded a 3-0 victory in Andalusia, and Pique has paid tribute to the mental strength of his team.

"We're very happy to follow the winning dynamic of last season. We're living through a very important part of the history of this club. It's the first time the club have won six out of eight titles," Pique told reporters.

"We had to win [the league] twice. When we were eight or 10 points clear, we had it won. Then there was a moment when it seemed that we had lost it, despite the fact we still depended on ourselves.

"We wouldn't have won this title 20 years ago because we often sank into our own pessimism. However, this generation is different. We're a winning team who always show their faces and can be trusted."

Barcelona will face Sevilla in the final of the Copa del Rey next weekend.