Apart From Lionel Messi’s Beef With Former Barcelona Manager, Gerard Pique Faced Similar Stumbling Blocks Early in Club Career

It’s no secret that Lionel Messi and former Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal don’t see eye to eye. The two have been at odds ever since Van Gaal made a series of critical comments about Messi last year. The situation came to a head during the FIFA World Cup Quarter Final match between Netherlands and Argentina.

While this exchange was definitely one of the highlights of the World Cup, former Barcelona star and World Cup winner Gerard Pique was also involved in a not-so-pleasant exchange with Van Gaal.

Van Gaal once pushed Gerard Pique to the ground

When Gerard Pique was just 13 years old and making a name for himself in the youth ranks of Barcelona, his grandfather introduced him to then-first-team coach Louis van Gaal. Pique’s grandfather told Van Gaal that his grandson was the future star of Barcelona’s defense. But the Dutch coach didn’t share the same sentiment and openly showed his distaste with a confrontation.

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In response, Van Gaal pushed Pique to the ground and told him he wasn’t strong enough to play for Barcelona. Pique shared this experience by saying, “He pushed me, he threw me to the floor. He told me I wasn’t strong enough to be a Barcelona player.”

Pique further added, “He destroyed me. At Barcelona we didn’t do gym work until the age of 18. That was really hard.” The Spanish international went on to prove Van Gaal wrong and became one of the greatest center-backs of his generation. He won numerous titles with Barcelona, including the Champions League, La Liga, and the World Cup with Spain.

The beef between Lionel Messi and Louis Van Gaal

One of the most memorable moments from last year’s FIFA World Cup came from the Quarter Final match between Netherlands and Argentina. The match was already tense, with several hard tackles and heated exchanges between players on both sides.

But things boiled over when Lionel Messi scored a goal and then taunted Van Gaal in a passionate outburst putting both his hands open behind his ears. After the match, Messi further expressed his disdain against members of the Netherlands while addressing the media.

Van Gaal had commented ahead of the quarterfinal that Messi did little to help his team when they didn’t have the ball. And also said some things about the rest of the Argentinian team. It’s safe to say that the relationship between Van Gaal and Messi is strained, to say the least.

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