Carles Puyol has advised former Barcelona teammate Gerard Pique to steer clear of any controversies involving Real Madrid.
Pique’s dislike of Madrid is well-documented, having becime embroiled in a war of words with Alvaro Arbeloa last week, but Puyol believes the centre-back would be better off keeping quiet.
“He is giving [off-field things] more importance than he should,” he was quoted as saying by Marca.
“We should talk about football and not this. These things have more significance off the pitch than on it.
“The players [of Barca and Madrid] know one another, have good relationships and certainly don’t have such trouble.
“The atmosphere [in the Spain squad] is good.
“In the four Clasicos in in 2011, it was also said [Spain] could be affected [by the rivalry], but the national team pulled forward without any problems.”
