Barcelona’s vice president Jordi Mestre has slammed Cristiano Ronaldo for his outspoken reaction to Real Madrid’s derby defeat against Atletico.
The frustrated Portuguese responded to Saturday’s loss by claiming that his team would be top of the table if they were all at his level, and specifically suggested that Mateo Kovacic, Jese Rodriguez and Lucas Vazquez are not good enough for the team.
Although he half-backtracked by claiming he was only referring to fitness levels in a campaign which has seen Real affected by several injuries, the saga has done nothing to dampen the theory that Ronaldo can be a selfish team-mate.
And now Mestre has waded in by claiming that players at his club would not make such incendiary comments about their team-mates.
“Our team’s players would never say what Cristiano said,” said Mestre.
“The club monitors a lot of things before signing players, and honestly, I could not imagine any of them saying what Cristiano said.”
Barca’s central defender turned matchwinner Gerard Pique, meanwhile, believes his team’s latest victory provides a clear indication of their title-winning credentials.
Pique popped up to turn home a cross from Luis Suarez for the winner in Sunday night’s closely contested 2-1 victory over impressive
Sevilla, restoring Barca’s eight-point lead over Atletico.
And the Spain international claimed the victory was all the more significant for the fact that it didn’t come easily, saying: “We’ve suffered a lot in recent games, like this one and against Las Palmas and Malaga.
“Sevilla defend well and then hit you on the break, and we struggled to get back into the game. Our legs are weary from so many games and everything is more difficult. But that’s how league titles are won.”
Pique was also keen to hail his team’s superstar forward Lionel Messi, who inspired the stirring comeback from Vitolo’s early strike for Sevilla by notching a brilliant free-kick and then finding Luis Suarez for the cross which led to the winner.
Messi scored nine goals in Barca’s seven games during February and is continuing to show the spellbinding form which has won him five Ballon d’Ors.
And long-time colleague Pique, who first played with Messi as a teenager in the club’s youth teams, eagerly paid tribute to the Argentine as he added:
“Messi generates everything. It’s a luxury and a pleasure to have him in the team. His technical quality and vision of the game are out of this world.”
Pique also dismissed ongoing rumours another South American, Neymar, could be tempted to join Real Madrid with the Brazilian still to sign a new contract.
“I’ll bet my arm Ney never goes there,” joked Pique.
“He’ll stay here for years.”