Pique: Rome mentally affected Barcelona players ahead of Anfield collapse LaLiga Santander Says they need to move on

Gerard Pique has admitted that Barcelona's embarrassing Champions League exit to Liverpool at Anfield is still playing on the players' minds.

Ahead of the Copa del Rey final against Valencia, the defender says that the players need to take a step forward sooner rather than later and move on from the disappointment.

"When something like that happens, everything or almost everything goes wrong," Pique told El Pais.

"I think people were mentally affected by what happened in Rome because it had happened so recently. It was a mental block.

"They pressed very high, we lacked our usual passing rhythm, and it was very intense. Anfield also played its role.

"It's been hard to lift ourselves up emotionally because the days passed but the loss wasn't forgotten. We have to step forward."

Ernesto Valverde could win another double at the club, yet his future remains up in the air, partly due to the Champions League shortcomings but also because of criticism of his style of play.

"Catalans are very demanding and we like to do things perfectly," he said.

"It's not winning, but how you win. Pep Guardiola's time [in charge] is very recent, which was the best time to play football here.

"The debate will continue whoever the coach is, but I can assure you that Valverde wants to play the same style. I'm in the dressing room and I know what he tells us to do."

Frenkie de Jong is on his way to the Camp Nou from Ajax and he could be joined by teammate and fellow Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt.

"They understand our football because we've learnt from the same source, which is [Johan] Cruyff," Pique said.

"De Ligt has many qualities because of his age, and De Jong has a lot of potential and he's exciting because of how he understands the game."