Real Madrid boss praises Barcelona legend as one of the best

Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has seen it all and done it all in football. He has played with some of the best ever in the game, and then managed several more. Thus, praise coming from him is nothing to scoff at and it is pretty clear that the Italian boss holds Gerard Pique in the highest esteem.

Pique’s career came to an abrupt end this weekend, after he had declared out of the blue that he was set to retire after the match against Almeria.

He was given a hero’s send-off by the Camp Nou crowd, and yet, it felt off seeing a player with his achievements in the game walking out into the shadows in the middle of the season, on just another weekend. Nobody would have seen it coming.

Ancelotti had nothing but positive things to say about Pique though, someone his teams had come up against numerous times over the years. Marca streamed the press conference and as reported by Football Espana, the Real Madrid manager said:

"“Pique… in my personal opinion is one of the strongest central defenders I have ever seen. Very intelligent on the pitch, very tidy.”“He has decided to stop, I think it is important… for you to decide to stop and not someone else telling you to stop, that it is not easy to do. It is a strong decision and I wish him all the best.”"

Real Madrid boss is all praise for Pique after his Barcelona retirement

Pique had been an integral part of the Barcelona team for more than a decade and also been a big part of the Catalan giants’ rivalry with Real Madrid in the modern era.

Naturally, he was not a popular figure amongst Real Madrid fans, but nobody can deny that he had one of the most illustrious careers in the history of the game, winning everything that was there to win both at club level with Barcelona and at international level with Spain.

Of course, under the management of Xavi, he had slipped out of the starting XI at Barcelona and his departure is not expected to have a huge impact on the La Liga race. As things stand, the Catalan side are two points ahead but Real Madrid do have a game in hand.