FC Barcelona figurehead Gerard Pique opens up about Pep Guardiola: ‘Relationship with Shakira changed everything’ | Football

sport">Dating Shakira and everything is different: that’s what Piqué experienced during the early months of his relationship with the Colombian pop star. In 2011, Barcelona was still lonely on the highest scaffold in the football world. Even then, Pique was still an indispensable link in the back, along with captain Carles Puyol.

sport">Mastermind behind the peerless blaugrana of that time was Guardiola. He could hardly appreciate Pique’s amorous escapades with world star Shakira, as it turns out. “Pep always wanted to control everything that happened. Since I started dating Shakira, our relationship changed abruptly. Now, ten years later, my relationship with Pep is back to normal.”

Exhausting

sport">Tiresome, that’s how Piqué describes his former trainer. The constant feud between Guardiola and Jose Mourinho – then Real Madrid coach – also started to weigh heavily in the dressing room. “At that time we were really at a breaking point in terms of tension in the dressing room. The rivalry he had with Mourinho was incredibly exhausting.”

sport">In fact, all this made Piqué seriously consider leaving the club in mid-2011. “There was so much pressure. I felt like I had to do everything perfectly in training. If there was one moment when I thought about leaving, it was that season.”

sport">Source: Marca/Het Nieuwsblad

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