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          Gerard Pique Twitter row with Alvaro Arbeloa shows lack of respect - Guti

          • Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondentApr 13, 2016, 08:10 AM ET

          Former Real Madrid midfielder Guti has criticised Barcelona defender Gerard Pique for showing a lack of respect for Blancos full-back Alvaro Arbeloa.

          Regular Twitter user Pique got caught up in another public exchange of words with Arbeloa following Barca's 1-0 La Liga defeat at Real Sociedad on Sunday night, a result which kept the La Liga title race alive as Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid have eaten into Barca's lead over recent weeks.

          Following full-time at Anoeta, Arbeloa tweeted "How difficult it is to win against 11" -- an apparent reference to Barca having comeback to win the previous Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Atletico Madrid only after Los Colchoneros striker Fernando Torres was controversially sent off.

          Asked about the tweet on radio station Cope that night, Pique questioned whether Arbeloa was qualified to comment given he had started just one of Madrid's 32 La Liga games so far this season, and said "I'd ask my friends that if at some point I am no longer a protagonist on the pitch they would not let me become one off it."

          The debate continued online, with Pique pointing out pedantically that Arbeloa had forgotten to add the correct punctuation when writing the word 'peliculon' (blockbuster) when responding to the radio comments via Twitter.

          Entering into the debate on the Chiringuito de Jugones TV show, Guti said such talk from Pique about a fellow professional was just too much.

          "You are the funniest guy in the world when Madrid lose, and when Barca lose nobody can write a tweet about it?" Guti said. "You should be a man and take these tweets when you lose. A line has been crossed. This is too many times, with Pique. I've never seen a Madrid or Barca player, still playing, show so little respect for a fellow professional. It's enough already with Pique. He cannot talk about Arbeloa as he has done, even in Barcelona it is starting to get noticed."

          Pique has regularly angered Madrid fans and pundits with his tweets during recent months, particularly since he joked as the Bernabeu outfit were thrown out of the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player last December.

          Former Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero, who played in his current team Real Sociedad's victory over Barca last weekend, has also got involved to defend Arbeloa.

          Guti suggested that if former Barca dressing-room leaders Xavi Hernandez and Carles Puyol were still around the Camp Nou, Pique would have been told to focus on making headlines with his on-pitch performances.

          "It's one thing to be happy when Madrid lose, as I am when Barca slip up, and another to talk like that about a fellow pro," he said. "[Pique] has learned nothing from Xavi and Puyol. The personality has eaten up the footballer. Since when have we stopped talking about Pique for his performances on the pitch? For a year now Pique has been in the news for things not to do with football."