Nacho Fernandez has urged his Real Madrid teammates to “ignore” Gerard Pique in wake of the Barcelona defender’s controversial Twitter activity.
Pique stoked Madrid fires when he tweeted a series of laughing emotes in response to the suspended Denis Cheryshev’s Copa del Rey appearance against Cadiz, which saw Los Blancos ultimately expelled from the competition, but Nacho brushed off his rival’s conduct.
“My favoured position is centre-back as I’ve played there since I was little and it’s where I play my best football, but at the end of the day, what matters is playing,” he said at a Press conference ahead of Malmo in the Champions League on Tuesday.
“[On Pique], everyone is free to write whatever they want on Twitter. I wouldn’t have written what he did, so the best thing to do is ignore it.
“Obviously the team want to play how they did in the first half against Getafe for 90 minutes.
“We spoke at half-time about continuing in that vein, but good spells in a game don’t necessarily equate to a good result and things didn’t go as we wanted them to.
“Still, we went into half-time 4-0 up and showed we could hold our lead for 90 minutes.
“We’re trying to play well for 90 minutes and if we can’t then we still go for the win.
“Even though they’re out, Malmo will be focused and are in good form.
“The match isn’t important because of what it means in the group, but so we can continue gaining confidence.
“At this club, you’re scrutinised for anything you do, but we’re confident in ourselves and in the Coach.
“The end of the season will be time for evaluations.
“We’re having bad luck with injuries, but that’s football and we are exposed to them.
“I’m working hard and trying to earn my place in the team and be competitive.
“I know there have been injuries, but I’m prepared for when the Coach needs me.
“I know there’s more competition here than in any team in the world, but I have a chance if I train and playing well, of course.”
