"Pep saw it and scolded me"- Ex-Barcelona star Gererd Pique recalls incident when he was severely punished by then manager Pep Guardiola
Barcelona legend Gerard Pique has recalled how Pep Guardiola punished him for not wrapping himself up properly in cold weather.
Pique returned to Barcelona from Manchester United in 2008 - the same summer when Guardiola was promoted from Barca B to become the senior team's manager. The centre-back made 183 appearances across competitions under Guardiola and won 14 trophies during their four seasons at the club.
This level of success wouldn't have come without a keen eye for detail from the manager or the first-team players' immaculate fitness levels. In one instance, Guardiola seemed to have taken a rather harsh route to ensure the latter.
Pique recently recalled how the Spanish tactician dropped him from a game and fined him for wearing short sleeves in cold weather. The 36-year-old, who announced his retirement from club football in November, said, via @BarcaUniversal (h/t GOAL):
"Once it was very cold in Barcelona, but I was wearing short sleeves. A photo of me in the snow and me in short sleeves appeared. Pep saw it and scolded me, fined me, didn't call me for the game and made me pay for a meal for the team, as I was putting my health at risk."
Apart from being on Manchester United's books for four years between 2004 and 2008, the La Masia graduate spent his entire career at Barca. The Spaniard retired from football last year having won every major trophy in club and international football. He is fifth on the Catalan giants' all-time appearances list (616).
Guardiola, meanwhile, has been Manchester City's head coach since 2016 and has won four of the last five Premier League titles.
Xavi addresses talk of Barcelona breaking La Liga points record
Xavi Hernandez has admitted that Barcelona are prioritizing tangible success and are not paying major attention to breaking the record tally of points in La Liga.
Speaking ahead of his team's 4-0 league win against Elche on April 1, Xavi told reporters (h/t BarcaUniversal):
"We didn’t talk about it, it’s an add-on, an extra, we haven’t even talked about it, I’m worried about winning the league and the cup."
The current record for most points in a La Liga season rests with both Real Madrid and Barcelona (100). Los Blancos did it in the 2011-12 season while Barca matched that tally in the next campaign.
The win against Elche took Xavi's team to 71 points from 27 matches. They can attain a total of 104 points if they win their remaining 11 games. Barca are also active in the Copa del Rey, where they hold a 1-0 first-leg lead over Real Madrid in the semi-finals.