Real Valladolid boss Sergio Gonzalez has defended the state of the pitch at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla.

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde and central defender Gerard Pique are among those to have criticised the playing surface at Valladolid, which was only re-laid on Thursday ahead of Saturday night's clash with Barcelona.

The grass noticeably cut up inside the first five minutes of action - leaving holes across the field - but Sergio has insisted that his club "did everything possible so the pitch would be in good condition".

"It seems as if they're the players and we're just farmers. We're also players and we play matches too. We were the last team to go up and we had problems arriving on time," Sergio told reporters.

"The club have done everything they possibly could. They had to adapt to the circumstances. We're a stately club. who did everything possible so the pitch would be in good condition. None of us wanted to have the grass like that."

Ousmane Dembele's second-half effort secured all three points for Barcelona against Valladolid.