Real Madrid News
Barcelona legend Gerard Pique takes another dig at Real Madrid’s 14th Champions League triumph
After retiring from professional football at the end of last year, Gerard Pique has been making headlines with his comments off the pitch.
The former Barcelona defender recently discredited Real Madrid’s 14th Champions League triumph, to which even his former national teammate Dani Carvajal responded.
But in a recent media interaction, Pique has once again touched up on the same topic, suggesting that Barcelona fans would have not been happy with the way Real Madrid won their 14th Champions League title in the 2021/22 season.
Pique on Real Madrid’s 14th UCL triumph
“In Barcelona, if you win the Champions League in the same way that Real Madrid won the last title, many fans will not be proud of their team,” Pique said on Ibai Llanos’ stream.
As mentioned earlier, this is not the first time Pique has tried to devalue Real Madrid’s 14th UCL triumph. Earlier this month, the defender had said that ‘no one will remember’ the club’s triumph in the 21/22 campaign.
Carlo Ancelotti was not too happy with Pique’s comments, issuing a fiery response where he said, “Pique lives in his own world.”
But it appears Pique is not willing to back down and is hell-bent on discrediting Real Madrid’s UCL win in the 2021/22 season, which came on the back of a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the final.
Real Madrid’s road to 14th UCL title
During the season when Real Madrid won the 14th UCL title, the final against Liverpool was perhaps the least of the hurdles of Carlo Ancelotti’s men.
That is because Los Blancos encountered a tough route to the final. They were pitted against Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16, before facing defending champions Chelsea in the quarterfinals.
Real Madrid took on Manchester City in the semis, before eventually taking on Liverpool in the final. In contrast, the Reds only had to beat relatively weaker opponents such as Villarreal, Benfica, and Inter, in their path to the finale.
Nico Paz was long hyped as Real Madrid Castilla’s brightest upcoming star. The media constantly kept the spotlight on the young Argentine through pre-season as he made a strong impression under Carlo Ancelotti in preseason.
His breakthrough eventually arrived, courtesy of Real Madrid’s injury crisis. He has now made two appearances for the team in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League and even recorded his first goal for the club earlier this week against Napoli.
Taking his chances
As revealed by AS (h/t The Madrid Zone), Paz has impressed management with his cameo against Napoli and will be called up for Real Madrid’s clash against Granada tomorrow.
In fact, there is a good chance he sees significant game time on the night.
After all, Ancelotti is without the likes of Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga in the middle of the park.
With Toni Kroos, Dani Ceballos, Federico Valverde, and Jude Bellingham filling the starting spots, Paz serves as the manager’s first-choice backup off the bench.
Paz voices his elation
Paz’s introduction against Napoli changed the texture of the game, and it was only poetic that he got the goal that put Real Madrid ahead again on the night.
Speaking to the media after his special night, the Castilla star did not hold back on his emotions.
“This is a dream. For a moment I didn’t even believe it. Very happy to be able to help the team. I dared. I was in automatic mode, I didn’t even know what I was doing. I hit it and well.”
“This is also a message for the other youth players: it is possible to get there. Ancelotti congratulated me, and the whole staff. They are an incredible group and I want to thank them all,” he added, urging his Castilla teammates to keep pushing.
