Pique furious with Bartomeu: He lied to me and Messi about Barcagate

Gerard Pique

has slammed former Barcelona chairman

Josep Maria Bartomeu

, alleging him of lying to him and Lionel Messi about the historic 'Barcagate' controversy. 

During the spring of 2020, it was claimed that a public relations firm engaged by the

heavyweights to maintain the club's image was pushed to present a more flattering picture of people behind the scenes while criticizing legendary stars on the field like Messi, Pique, and Xavi.

Bartomeu, who was driven out of office in October 2020, stated he had no idea what was going on, but it was eventually shown that he had been pulling some threads, and those who tried to support him in public were made to appear silly. 

Pique was among those to speak out in defend of Bartomeu and told YouTube star 

 of his regrets:

“Why am I angry with Bartomeu? Because he lied to me about Barcagate, when the club hired services to criticise players, as he told Lionel Messi and me to our faces that he didn't know anything about it.

“We told him that we accepted that and we expected him to take the appropriate measures. Only then I found out that he did know.

“For him to lie to my face on such a serious matter, I looked like an imbecile by defending him.”

The seasoned center-back, who spent the previous 14 years at

, making over 600 appearances and winning several trophies, has been talking about a variety of issues. 

He claims to still have a "really tight connection" with Pep Guardiola, who was formerly the manager of Barcelona and is now the manager of Manchester City, and he hopes to see France international striker Ousmane Dembele sign a new deal in Catalunya that will keep him from becoming a free agent this summer.

Pique has previously spoken about his favorite rivalries, stating why derby matches with Espanyol are "better than sex" and preferred Clasico confrontations with arch-rivals Real Madrid. 

“I've had as much money as Espanyol's entire budget for a while now." he said.

“I like going to Espanyol's ground more than Real Madrid's, so I was happy when Espanyol got promoted because I get to go and play there.

“I like going on to the pitch, being whistled at, then you laugh and they get even more p*ssed off, there's nothing like that in the world, I'd say it's better than sex.

“I enjoy it a lot more than against Real Madrid. It's a pent-up anger, a resentment for years. The fans at Real Madrid are posher and they're do-gooders.”

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