Gerard Pique Talks Alvaro Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Esteban Granero and More

Gerard Pique has attempted to put his ongoing spat with Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa to bed, but he refused to apologise for his comments about the 32-year-old.

Following Barcelona's 2-2 draw with Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, Pique responded to Arbeloa saying he wouldn't be out of place at a comedy show by indicating he was no friend of the former Liverpool man and comparing him to a "training cone," per Spanish outlet Marca.

Ahead of the start of Barca's Club World Cup campaign in Japan, the 28-year-old centre-back refused to comment any further on the matter, per Albert Masnou in Sport.

"Arbeloa? I have nothing else to say," said Pique. "I said he wasn’t a friend but someone I knew ['conocido' in Spanish, which Pique referenced as 'cono…cido', relating to Arbeloa’s derogatory ‘cone’ nickname]. Everybody is free to interpret that the way they want, but I’ve had enough—I’ve nothing else to say."

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Pique did, however, admit that he had no problem with Real captain Sergio Ramos coming out in Arbeloa's defence, per Masnou: "Sergio Ramos? He is the captain of Real Madrid and has to defend Arbeloa, that is his role. They are team-mates and it is only normal that he defends him. I admire Ramos for defending his team-mate, I really do."

Pique was not so diplomatic about Esteban Granero's response to the matter.

The former Los Blancos and current Real Sociedad player sent out his own tweet following Pique's comments, telling the defender to "forget about your complexes and respect your elders," per Marca:

Pique said on Wednesday that Granero's reaction did not shock him, per Masnou: "Granero's tweet on the matter? I am not surprised by that. I am not going to respond, though—we came here to win the Club World Cup, another great opportunity to win another title."

The current war of words between Pique and Real started when the former Manchester United man seemed to mock Los Blancos when it was revealed they had fielded in ineligible player in the Copa del Rey, a transgression that eventually saw them kicked out of the competition:

Barcelona have already booked their spot in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey having played their two-legged last-32 round against Villanovense ahead of the other teams due to their Club World Cup commitments.

The Camp Nou giants face Guangzhou Evergrande in the semi-finals on Thursday and are heavy favourites to claim the trophy.

They have had a quite phenomenal year, winning the treble in 2014-15, but Luis Enrique's side are not in the best form heading into the Japan tournament, per Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe:

However, as Pique notes, they have a terrific opportunity to be crowned world champions and finish a stellar year on a huge high.