Former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has sent a happy retirement message to his Barcelona adversary Gerard Pique whom he played alongside for Spain.
The pair are former Spain international teammates but were fierce rivals at club level with Ramos – who joined Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent a year ago – the long-term captain at Real Madrid as Pique starred for Barca.
Pique has announced his imminent retirement with his ‘final Barcelona game at the Camp Nou’ coming this weekend against Almeria. He is also set to be included in the Blaugrana’s squad to face Osasuna – which will be the team’s final game before this summer’s World Cup in Qatar.
The veteran central defender was eye-catchingly included in Spain’s preliminary 55-man squad for the World Cup finals, despite the last of Pique’s 102 international caps coming in 2018 – prior to his retirement from international football.
Many of those appearances for Spain came at the heart of the defence alongside Ramos – the duo won the World Cup in 2010 together and the European Championships two years later. Ramos is La Roja’s most capped player of all time with 180 appearances for the Spain senior team, but none have come since early 2021 due to continued fitness setbacks.
Ramos has enjoyed a resurgence of form and fortune in the French capital this campaign and has clarified his intentions and hopes of being included in Luis Enrique’s Spain World Cup squad – he has yet to taste defeat for Paris Saint-Germain in his 30 appearances for the club, a record in the French capital.
Have Your Say! Is Pique among the greatest defenders of his generation? Tell us what you think here.
Ramos has now posted a tweet in which he has paid tribute to Pique following his decision to hang up his boots. The PSG defender told his former rival and teammate to remember all his achievements and to enjoy the rest of his life.
Ramos has had a tumultous relationship with Pique, having spoken out about his former Spain teammate, who he has in the past clashed with. After Pique was booed in Spain training in 2017, Ramos said: "Pique's tweet was not the best thing to do if he doesn't want to be booed.
"Everyone is free to say what they think, although as a captain I'm always concerned about the atmosphere in the team and Pique knew what he was doing. Maybe it wasn't the right time to do that and it doesn't help a lot."
The tweet of Pique’s to which Ramos was referring to related to the Catalan independence referendum from Spain in 2017: "From today and until Sunday, let us express ourselves peacefully. We do not give them any excuse. That's what they want. And we sing well tall and very strong."
The two played alongside each other over 80 times at international level with Spain and shared an intense rivalry in La Liga for over a decade.
