Barcelona’s Gerard Pique warns his silence gesture to the Espanyol fans when celebrating his equaliser “was the least I could’ve done” to them.
Pique was heavily targeted by Espanyol supporters during the 1-1 draw on Sunday after he claimed the club were not from Barcelona but Cornella, and he took aim at Los Periquitos again, as well as the authorities for not acting on the ‘insults’ his family received.
“Disrespect? Disrespect is when they report me for saying Espanyol de Cornella and not when they insult my family,” the defender said after the game.
“That’s disrespect. It was the least I could’ve done after everything. I know people from Espanyol, who are my friends and good people, but if they don’t report these things as a club, they’re all responsible for the situation.
“My celebration? It was sarcasm. We’re responsible for the match and everything that happens in it.
“We’re people and we react. If those who govern don’t make the right decisions and don’t say anything about it, we won’t remain silent.
“Their roots are moving away from Barcelona. They’re in Cornella and they have a Chinese owner. I tried to return [the abuse] and it seems like it hurt them.”
