Barcelona star Gerard Pique reveals he set up a WhatsApp group with Real Madrid players just to troll them

The perception that Real Madrid and Barcelona players absolutely despise each other appears to be a bit of a myth after Gerard Pique revealed there is a WhatsApp group with many of them in it.

Yes, the Catalan star admits he did set up the group with the intend purpose of having a dig at the Spanish Real players on account of Pique and his team-mates being 15 points ahead of their arch rivals in the La Liga table.

And the main theme of the group? ‘Talking sh*t’ to each other according to the 31-year-old Spanish centre-back.

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“I’m going to let you in on a little inside information,” Pique wrote in the Players’ Tribune. “Everybody knows that footballers have text groups on WhatsApp. I have one just for my friends from home, and I have another just for my Barca team-mates.

“But my favourite one might surprise you. Earlier this season, when we were already eight or nine points clear of Real Madrid in the league, I started a special group for some of the guys on the Spanish national team who play for Real Madrid and Barcelona.

“If you only read what the media says, you would think that we hate one another. But, in fact, we all get along really well, and we text back and forth about tactics and football philosophies and even the books we’re reading.

“No, come on, of course I’m joking! All we do in that group is talk s**t to one another about Barca and Real! It’s the best. We’re just like little kids. And the truth is, it’s especially hilarious for me right now, because now we’re up 15 points on Real in the league. So I’m getting very creative in my responses.

“So I’m texting them in the WhatsApp group, ‘Come on guys, why so serious?!’ Then I put a little crying emoji, and a laughing emoji. I even made a special name for the group. It’s called: CONGRATULATIONS.

“I can joke around with those guys, because they are my brothers on the Spanish national team. We might hate each other’s clubs, but we are all playing for the same country, with the same dream, and that’s something that I’m very, very proud of.”

Barcelona seem to already have the league title wrapped up but Real still have the chance to claim back some dignity in the Champions League where they and the Catalans are both in the quarter-finals.