Gerard Pique reveals outrageous request Sergio Ramos and Julen Lopetegui made of him | OneFootball

Former Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has never been afraid to speak his mind, but it has not always gone down well with those around him. Not least ex-Spain teammate Sergio Ramos and former Spain manager Julen Lopetegui.

During the 2017-18 season, Barcelona played on the first of October in front of an empty Camp Nou stadium, as a result of the disturbances caused by the police during the illegal referendum held by the Catalan governmenr in 2017. Barcelona were left with a decision of whether to play or not, as police beat down peaceful voters in the streets, hospitalising pensioners in the process.

Barcelona received criticism for playing at all that day, and in particular, some players voiced their disagreement with the decision as no doubt friends and family saw the police take violent measures against those in the streets. Pique has revealed that at the time, Spain captain Ramos and coach Lopetegui took him aside during the Spain camp that week, and asked him to publicly ask for forgiveness.

‘Gerard, you’ve positioned yourself very in favour of Catalonia,’ they supposedly said. Pique said that his response was ‘man, I think I’ve positioned myself for the right to vote, and I won’t make any public declaration asking for forgiveness.’ Lopetegui then handed him a paper with a statement saying that he had to attend a press conference the next day and read it.

“Look, if you want me to do a press conference, but I will do it in my way, and I will say what I think. And I won’t apologise, I can warn you of that,” Pique responded. He threw the statement in the bin after reading it in his room, and said that from then on, his time with the national team was s*** and he was whistled constantly.

Pique retired from Spain duty after the 2018 World Cup the following year after La Roja crashed out to Russia, then under Fernando Hierro. Pique was just 31 at the time, relatively early to retire from international duty. Publicly at least, he is yet to ever disclose his political preferences, but has advocated vocally for democracratic process.