Barcelona icon Gerard Pique has inflamed old tensions with Real Madrid, after declaring that their most recent Champions League triumph will be forgotten in the passing of time.
Pique gave a scathing assessment of Los Blancos during an interview with RAC1, where he was asked about the current state of the La Liga title race, including league leaders Girona.
“It’s scary. They’re beginning to look like Leicester. It’s a unique project and it’s incredible how they play, how they combine.”
He would go on to say that he backed former teammate Xavi Hernandez to turn things around at Barcelona, but admitted that they were the only side he watched regularly now. He didn’t think much of the Real Madrid that he had seen though.
“Madrid at the moment are more of the same, they don’t inspire much but they get results and in February they will be alive in all competitions and in the Champions League we will see.”
Comparing them infavourably with Barcelona’s five Champions League wins.
“I always say it though, our way of doing things and the demands we place on ourselves, when we win, we are remembered forever, when they win, it is just another one. The last one, which was a miracle because they were inferior in each round, and it won’t be remembered.”
Certainly Pique is playing to the galleries with his declarations, and they will no doubt go down well in Catalonia. Even if Real Madrid were perhaps living on the edge during their Champions League win in 2022, it is precisely for that reason that it will live so long in the memory. Few sides if any have stared defeat in the face so closely in the Champions League and lived to come out on top.