Few moments in recent FC Barcelona history generated as much controversy as Gerard Pique arriving at the Spotify Camp Nou on a bicycle on the day Espanyol were mathematically relegated to the second division.
For Espanyol supporters, it was a deeply painful occasion. The club were dropping out of the top flight after 26 consecutive seasons in Spanish football’s elite.
Pique’s gesture, at the time, was widely interpreted as mockery.
Now, former Barcelona coach Quique Setien has finally broken his silence on how he responded to the stunt.
Setien on Pique’s stunt
Speaking in an interview with Senen Moran, Setien recalled confronting Pique directly before the match after being shown the video.
“I can already tell you this because I’m sure it won’t bother him, but it was curious because before the match started, I went to find him because someone had sent me the video,” he said (h/t SPORT).
“I said to him: ‘What is this? Are you aware that we only have two centre-backs today, and if something had happened to you, a teammate would have had to play out of position?'”
Pique was always a divisive figure at Barcelona. (Photo by Agustin Cuevas/Getty Images)
Setien also revealed that after the final whistle, when journalists asked him about the incident at his press conference, Pique’s response was relaxed. “He told me: ‘Say whatever you want, it’s fine.'”
Despite his concerns, Setien did share a positive light on his relationship with Pique, though he implied the defender lacked a bit of maturity at times.
“In reality, I liked him because he was a lad you could talk to very reasonably, just like Busquets and many others.
“But there are things that didn’t sit right with me. Mainly because you are responsible for many things – if another footballer does the same, what do you do? And if tomorrow another player does it and it becomes a tradition?” he concluded.
Setien made it clear that the act was out of hand, adding that a lot of managers usually tend to look the other eye, in the face of such incidents. But he was not one of them.
