Pique: It's an atrocity that Barcelona spent money on criticising us

Gerard Pique finally broke his silence in an interview with La Vanguardia, speaking for the first time since he spoke briefly after the 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich. 

With 24 hours to go until the Clasico, the Barcelona defender looked at a range of issues, on an off the pitch: the arrival of Koeman, Messi, the vote of no confidence... 

Pique, who renewed his contract with Barcelona this week, was especially critical when it came to discussing Barçagate. The club paid the ocmpany I3 Ventures, who made several posts on social media against various current and former Barca players.

"I want to get on with everyone but sometimes..." he said when asked about his relationship with president Josep Maria Bartomeu. 

"The issue with social media. As a Barcelona player, I see my club spending money -- money they're now asking for from us -- to criticise not just external people with a previous relationship to the club, but players still here. It's an atrocity.

"I asked (Bartomeu) for explanations and he told me he didn't know about it. I believed him. But then you see the person who contracted the services (Jaume Masferrer) is still at the club. And that hurts a lot.

"I'm saying here because I have already told the president. So my relationship with the president is perhaps cordial but there are still (issues) there."  

On his new contract, Pique expressed his love for the club: "Barça have given me everything, so I made myself available to help (with managing the wage bill)."  

The defender also referred to the decision to sack Ernesto Valverde after the Super Cup loss to Atletico Madrid: "For me, having won two leagues and being top, to sack the manager halfway through the season, as a project, doesn't seem very coherent. I didn't think it was logical."  

Pique also lamented the lack of legends currently working at the club. "I am surprised people like Pep, Puyol, Xavi and Valdes aren't at the club. You always have to keep them around, they're part of Barça's history," he said. "Something's not being done right."