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Pique shoots from the hip in typically feisty conference

Xinhua, May 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

FC Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique gave a traditionally feisty press conference on Monday in which he insisted he was satisfied with his side' s season, while at the same time taking the chance to make a few barbed comments about eternal rivals Real Madrid.

Barca' s win against Granada on Saturday saw them retain the BBVA Primera Liga title, which is their sixth in the past eight season and despite exiting the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Barca can add a further title if they beat Sevilla in the King' s Cup final on Sunday.

Despite Barcelona winning the league, two Madrid based papers on Sunday ran headlines highlighting Zinedine Zidane' s success since replacing Rafael Benitez as Madrid coach and proclaiming the 2015-16 season had been "Zidane' s League," something Pique contested with scorn.

"They can write their own stories, while we go on winning trophies to put in the club museums," he replied when asked about the headlines.

"I don' t know if those trophies produce frustration among some people, but the fact we always win isn' t interesting. People want new heroes and there is no interest in our hegemony continuing," continued Pique, who nevertheless hopes that "we keep on winning until I hang up my boots."

He said he gave his side "a very good mark for the season."

"If you win the league, you have done well and if win other titles then it becomes excellent, but the first thing to do is win the league," insisted Pique.

He was asked about the differences between Barca and Madrid and replied that for the moment Barca was "the team that wins the most ... I suppose it' s the talent of our players. At the moment we are winning, but they could win in the future, as they have in the past, because it will be very hard to bring together as much talent as Barca has at the moment," he said.

"There will be a day when this ends. All cycles must come to an end and there is no club which can keep all of this going forever and we must all realize that," commented the defender, who believes the future was in the Barca youth system.

"Players from elsewhere are those who make the difference, but we have everything at home," concluded Pique. Endit