Gerard Pique claims “there wouldn’t be a problem having dinner with Alvaro Arbeloa” as the Barcelona defender hints the media have exaggerated their feud.
Pique and Arbeloa have been involved in a long-running war of words, prompting intervention from Spain boss Vicente del Bosque and Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos to comment, but the Barca stopper insists he would happily eat out with his reported nemesis.
“[On Sergio Ramos and Guti describing Barca’s current state as a “funk”], you must talk about something,” he told Marca.
“You must make headlines and use words that were said in the past. It’s as easy as this. All this never existed when we won trophies in the past.
“There wouldn’t be a problem [having dinner with Arbeloa]. I’ve dined many times with him, I’ve been with him at [Spain] camps and there’s no problem.
“[On the performance against Valencia], we played very well against Valencia but couldn’t win.
“Perhaps we didn’t play as well against Sporting but still won 6-0. This is football and we know how it works.
“[Valencia] created one chance and scored two goals, while we made 15 and only took one. These things are what make this sport so magnificent.
“[On Antonio Adan wanting to help Madrid], I have nothing to say.
“Ultimately, I guess [Betis] would be fighting for their interests by beating Barcelona. It’s totally normal.
“[On Betis benefitting from not having anything to play for], it depends on us. If we play at our best…
“Of course we can lose, as we did against Valencia, but logic and normality states that if we play at our best, we’ll win all three games we have left.
“[On feeling persecuted], no. This is how this works and it’s always been like this at Barca.
“I don’t feel that people are watching me to see what I’ll do next.”
