Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta says he has been offended by Pepe’s comments after Sunday’s El Clasico.
The Real Madrid defender labelled Barca players, and in particular Iniesta, as ‘theatrical’ following a penalty appeal from the Spanish international.
However, in an interview with Onda Cero’s Al Primer Toque programme, Iniesta has hit back at Pepe and insists he finds the comments offensive.
“Yes I am affected by what he said. A person may have an opinion and say that a certain action was not a penalty, but it cannot go any further than that.
“When someone speaks about you and your teammates in those terms then of course you feel offended.
“I’m not theatrical and neither are my teammates. If we look at how Pepe has acted in games then we could have a lot of opinions about it.
“It hurts because he refers to you and you should take no notice of it, but we already know about Pepe.”
In contrast, Iniesta praised the good atmosphere and the behaviour of the players in the game at the Camp Nou.
“It was how it should be. Due to circumstances it was different at certain times, but we embraced as colleagues a while ago. The rivalry will always be there but beyond that we are colleagues who have experienced many things together.”
The 28-year-old also revealed that he is still in touch with former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.
“I’ve spoken to Pep ever since he left because Guardiola is a person who has always been involved with his players, not only in a sporting sense but also on a personal level. Basically, you never lose this relationship.”
