Spain teammates Gerard Pique and Alvaro Arbeloa had a heated exchange on Saturday evening in light of Barcelona‘s defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad.
Following on from last weekend’s Clasico defeat by Real Madrid, Barca fell 1-0 to Sociedad, opening up the Spanish title race.
Atletico Madrid—who beat Espanyol—now sit only three points behind Luis Enrique’s leaders, while Real are only one behind them, having amassed 72 points from 32 matches.
Arbeloa has made no secret for his dislike of all things Barca over the years, and took the opportunity to poke fun at his rivals and centre-back Pique after the loss.
“How difficult it is to win against 11 men!” Arbeloa tweeted after the match. “Great games from Illarramendi and Granero – promise fulfilled. Congratulations!”
¡QUÉ DIFÍCIL ES GANAR CONTRA 11!
¡Partidazo de @illarra4 y enorme @eGranero11, promesa cumplida! 😉 ¡Enhorabuena Pirata! ????— Álvaro Arbeloa (@aarbeloa17) April 9, 2016
The defender’s comment came in reference to Fernando Torres’s red card in the Champions League meeting between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona on Tuesday.
Leading 1-0 when their striker was dismissed, Atleti failed to hold onto their lead and fell to a 2-1 defeat, as Luis Suarez scored twice.
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Pique, asked in the mixed zone for a response to Arbeloa’s tweet, was—unsurprisingly—unimpressed by the ex-Liverpool defender’s comment.
“A player who has played once in 32 matches doesn’t deserve a response,” Pique replied, as per Sport.