The dark side of Barça defender Gerard Pique in Manchester

The documentary Matchday has allowed us to see a different side to Barcelona and their players. The third episode of the series focuses on defender Gerard Pique. He looks back on his time with Manchester United as the focus falls on Barça's Champions League game against the English side last season. 

Some of his comments are surprising. Smiling, as usual, he confessed that he has "some really dark moments in (Manchester). I ended up in the police station more than once. Best not to go into that, it was when I was young. I was there and I wasn't anybody." 

The city of Manchester, for Pique, doesn't deserve the fame it has: "The city is not as bad as it's made it out to be, although it's not calm, either, as I have heard people say."  

He speaks about former coach Sir Alex Ferguson with affection, although there was also tension, although it had nothing to do with football. 

"I rented a house from Sir Alex," Pique explains. "And I bought a rabbit and it destroyed the house. It bit all the seats, everything. And when I left, he called me, (he was) raging."  

This situation, as seen in the documentary, surprises Barça boss Ernesto Valverde, who doesn't understand what Pique was doing with a rabbit. 

The former Spain star explains: "A god was too big, so I bought a rabbit." 

Finally, he talks about the Christmas traditions in England: "Two or three days before Christmas, there was a party just for the players in the team. It was the bee's knees, they really cut loose. It was all day long. We left training, left our cars there and got a bus. We went to the casino. Casino, party...

"The next day Sir Alex was waiting for us in the dressing room. We got a real scolding. There was an aluminum chair and he kicked it but unfortunately with his shin. You could see him start limping. He'd destroyed his leg. It was spectacular. From there on they stopped with the Christmas party."