Gerard Pique Reveals Long-Term Hip Problem After BATE Borisov vs. Barcelona Game

Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique revealed he has been suffering a long-term problem with his hip when speaking to reporters following the Catalans' 2-0 win at BATE Borisov in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

After recording the team's first clean sheet since August, the Spain international said, per Sport: “For a year and half I’ve had a pain in my hip, but I’m OK physically” .

Star midfielder Ivan Rakitic struck twice to ensure the Champions League holders were never really troubled in Belarus, and the defence held up its end of the bargain.

The latter was a welcome change after a shaky start to the campaign for the Blaugrana defence, which has already conceded 11 goals in eight Liga matches, per WhoScored.com.

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

In that span, Pique has played reasonably well, although he hasn't looked as dominant as he did in 2014-15—when he put together one of the best seasons of his career and anchored the Catalans on their way to the treble.

In La Liga that season, he averaged 2.1 tackles per match and 2.2 interceptions while committing less than a foul per contest on average, via WhoScored.com.

He's looked slightly less sharp early in 2015-16, particularly in the duels, and his tackling numbers have dropped as a result.

The persistent pain in the hip could be an explanation, but since Pique claims he's fine physically and the pain has been present for a year and a half, one has to assume the doctors can't find anything wrong and the issue is set to stay.

Sport English had to make this joke:

The former Manchester United man is just 28 years old, and while professional athletes constantly put tremendous pressure on their bodies and often have to live with pain as a result, you'd think Pique is too young for the condition to be an indication his body is starting to struggle under the strain.

Pique almost seemed to gloss over the issue and hasn't complained about it in 18 months, so in all likelihood, it's a minor problem that won't force him to miss too many matches, if any.

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