With the game on track (3-0), Xavi Hernández took advantage of the final stretch to rest his most tired players. Among them, Koundé, who reappeared at the Santiago Bernabeu after almost a month injured. In the 78th minute, the coach opted to withdraw the French defender and bring in Gerard Piqué, whose last performance at the Camp Nou against Inter was not successful at all and opened wide the doors of the debate on his continuity.
What happened yesterday in the Barcelona stadium did nothing but feed that debate, since a good part of the stands gave him loud whistles when he stepped onto the pitch. A reaction that counteracted another part of the stands with applause to the one who has been one of his idols for so many years.
But the first times that the center-back touched the ball, a murmur was generated among the public that finished a classic chant: “Piqué, Piqué, Piquenbauer”.
Interestingly, the last massive whistle that Piqué had received on a soccer field was in his last stage with the Spanish team, when he was booed by the fans in stadiums in Spain for having expressed his sympathy for the independence cause or his support for the referendum of the 1-O.
"The beeps will be difficult for them to stop, but what I express is very rational (being able to vote in the independence referendum). I feel uncomfortable for my colleagues. They do not deserve to be beeped by a colleague," he expressed in October 2017 in a press conference with the selection.
The Blaugrana coach, Xavi Hernández, referred to the whistles that Piqué had received. "In the Gamper I asked for the unity of Barcelona, and it's time to be united, the only thing I can say about Piqué is that, whether he plays or not, in the locker room he is an example in capital letters, not a bad face, he trains 100% , he leaves his skin, whether he plays one or all the minutes. Piqué is an example of a captain and people have to know that. It indicates how winning and competitive he is".
The technical secretary, Jordi Cruyff, also referred. "The fans are always free to react as they think. On the other hand, it is very important to support all our players because they are wearing our shirt, but when they whistle they are not going to play better".
