Madrid head into the second leg at the Bernabeu still searching for their first victory of the season after three matches.
In La Liga they are already five points behind Barca after being held at home by Valencia before losing 2-1 at local rivals Getafe on Sunday, while last Thursday they were beaten 3-2 by the Catalans in the first leg of the Super Cup at the Nou Camp.
That is hardly the start Jose Mourinho would have been looking for and another setback against Barca on Wednesday would be a bitter pill to swallow for the capital club, who supplanted their archrivals as Spanish champions last season.
However, Pique does not believe a Barca triumph in the Super Cup will strike a terminal blow to Madrid's title defense.
"It's surprising that Madrid have lost five points in two games. They'd been unbeaten in the league since December, but Madrid are Madrid, one of the biggest clubs in the world, and they could put together a 30-match winning streak," he said.
"I don't think that the result (Wednesday) will have any influence on the league. Whoever wins the league is the most consistent over 38 games, not the two that we've played up until now. No matter how many points there are between us now, the season is very long."
Mourinho claimed Tuesday that a victory on Wednesday night isn't important. He just wants to see an improved attitude from his struggling club.
"To win the Super Cup or not to win the Super Cup, to beat Barca or not to beat Barca ... none of that is important to me right now.
"I have very specific priorities right now, and my priority is to find out if the attitude we had against Getafe has been an occasional situation, or if this situation is a consequence of a certain psychological profile some players and the team might have built. For me, that's the most important thing for tomorrow."
Madrid's hopes have been boosted by the arrival of Croatia playmaker Luka Modric, who completed his long-anticipated move to Spain from Tottenham on Monday.
Modric trained with his new teammates Monday night but it remains to be seen if he will be involved in Wednesday's match having had a lack of competitive action over the last few months.
Nevertheless, Pique believes Madrid have got themselves a fine player.
"He's very good. We played against him in the European Championships. He has a good touch. We'll see how he settles in," the Spain international said.
Barca, who are looking to win their fourth successive Spanish Supercopa, could still be led into action by captain Carles Puyol despite the defender suffering a fractured cheekbone in Sunday's comeback win over Osasuna.
Puyol will train with Barca on Tuesday and coach Tito Vilanova will then decide whether or not to include the veteran defender in his team.
Mourinho will also need to decide whether or not to throw Modric straight into action, although the 26-year-old playmaker insists he is ready to go.
"I feel good. I'm ready and the coach will decide if I play or not. It's one of the biggest games in world football," Modric said Monday at his introductory news conference.
Regarding Madrid's disappointing start to the campaign, Modric added: "I've seen the three games and I can only say one thing: It's not important how you start the league but how you finish.
"There's still a lot of games left in the league and we still haven't started the Champions League or Copa del Rey."
Information from Press Association was used in this report.
article source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1145144/barcelona%27s-gerard-pique----real-madrid-down-not-out?cc=4716
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