This season, above any other in his career, Gerard Pique has had to deal with the brunt of opposition supporter terrace ire.
Whether it be for his fervent support for Catalan independence, for perceived inflammatory comments or just for speaking his mind on a variety of subjects, the central defender has been met with a wall of hate at most away grounds.
More recently, a post-match interview in which he labelled Barca’s local rivals as ‘Espanyol of Cornella’ really stoked the derby fires, and the subsequent abuse he had to put up with in Sunday’s match at the RCDE Stadium was, predictably, vile.
For some years now when facing Los Periquitos, the player has had insults directed at his family. Is it any wonder then, that Pique put his finger to his lips when heading Barcelona’s equaliser, as if to ‘shush’ the crowd?
He is a human being like the rest of us, and he admitted it was a deliberate act after the game, saying “It was the minimum I could’ve done.”
Some might say the backlash was also entirely justified, and a horrific late tackle on him from Gerard Moreno was seen by the Espanyol front man not as any sort of retribution, more of a player’s code of ‘what goes on, on the pitch, stays on the pitch.’ As though that should somehow excuse it.
The venom behind the tackle suggests otherwise.
So, two questions spring to mind.
Are any comments or negativity in the first place from Pique acceptable, and do they make what comes afterwards equally okay?
Sporting sledging, for want of a better phrase, has gone on in sports for decades. Jose Mourinho is the master at getting under the skin of his opposite numbers by way of example, and much of the time is lauded for his mind games.
Is there more of a focus on the centre-back because of his stated desire to one day become Barcelona president? That, perhaps, such behaviour is unbecoming of a man who wishes to attain such status?
Lest we forget that Pique is much more intelligent than your average footballer and arguably knows exactly what he’s doing. Surely his opponent should answer him on the pitch in the best way they know how – by winning?
What’s fascinating is that Espanyol as a club have come out and once again denounced Pique for inciting things, but, as of now, have not condemned their own supporters.
It’s a two-sided, and heated, debate that will rage on.
