Shakira hailed her partner Gerard Pique as "the best centre-back in the world" after the Spain legend helped Barcelona earn an emphatic victory over Real Madrid.
The Blaugrana won 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night thanks to a double from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and goals from Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres. The result extended Barca's winning run in La Liga to five games and maintained their undefeated record in 2022.
Xavi has gone a long way to addressing the defensive deficiencies which were commonplace under his predecessor, Ronald Koeman, and his side have conceded just once in their last four top-flight outings. Pique, 35, has been central to this resurgence and has rekindled his best form after a number of troubled seasons at Camp Nou.
The veteran stalwart has made 35 appearances in all competitions this term and was delighted to keep a clean sheet against bitter rivals Real Madrid. There were concerns over Pique's fitness after he was taken off just over an hour into Barca's previous La Liga fixture - a 4-0 victory over Osasuna - but he was able to feature in Thursday's Europa League last-16 win over Galatasaray as well as El Clasico.
After the match, the World Cup winner took to Twitter to declare, "We are back," and sum up the mood in a jubilant Barcelona dressing room which has not had much to celebrate in recent years.
One hour later, Shakira paid a glowing tribute to her long-time partner for playing through the pain barrier "with heroism" and putting his team first. She wrote: "Gerard won't let me say these things publicly. But only he with his heroism can play like this, overcoming any injury or pain and always giving his best. It's not because he's my husband, but he's the best centre back in the world. I said!"
Is Gerard Pique still one of the best centre-backs in the world? Have your say in the comments!
Pique, who is Barcelona's vice-captain, and Colombian pop star Shakira, 45, have been together since early 2011 and have two children.
Meanwhile, despite the dominant margin of victory, Xavi declared it was not a perfect defensive performance from Pique and his colleagues in the second half. Speaking after the match, the former midfielder said: " Today we were 4-0 up but you have to run, help the full-backs, press... Today it was 4-0 but, in another game, it could be 1-0 and losing the ball could cost you. A game of football is 90 minutes.
"I get really angry when we lose the ball. You can lose the ball in the final third, but not in your own half. It's for that reason. If you drop the demands, you don't get results. We could have played better in the final phase of the game."
