Granero: Gerard Pique crosses the line when it comes to Real Madrid

Former Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero feels that although Gerard Pique is a close friend of his, the Barcelona star ‘crosses the line’ when talking about Los Blancos, per Marca (via Football Espana).

Pique has been involved in a spat with Real Madrid and Spain star Alvaro Arbeloa and even joked around on Twitter when they were kicked out of the Copa del Rey earlier this season for fielding an ineligible player: Denis Cheryshev.

The former Manchester United defender has even been booed on a regular basis during Spain’s international matches, and Granero admitted that while he’s friends with Pique, he has crossed the line plenty of times.

"I’ve known Pique for 11 years. I’ve spent a lot of time with him in youth teams and we’ve had a great time, because he’s a super fun guy," Granero told Marca.

"However, I believe that on occasion he has crossed the line and shown a lack of respect to a colleague, making a mistake."

"We don’t have to speak outside of Twitter but there is no problem for me and I’m sure not for him. We’ve always had a great relationship but you can’t disrespect a teammate, especially if we are to lead by example so there are no problems between sets of fans."

"I don’t want to take things out of proportion. I hope there’s no more on the issue and we can dedicate ourselves to football."

"It’s true Arbeloa is my friend and when a friend is disrespected, I want to be there to defend him. I’ve never hidden my support of Madrid, and now, after Real Sociedad, Madrid is my team."