'Super unjust' - Barcelona's Piqué criticizes Catalan trial

After defeating Real Madrid 0-3 in the Bernabéu stadium last night, FC Barcelona star Gerard Piqué took some time out of celebrating the result to comment on the trial of the Catalan leaders for their roles in the independence referendum in 2017.

Piqué, who is often outspoken about political issues and many other topics away from football, described the trial as “super unjust.”

The Catalan footballer also went on to criticize the priorities of Spanish television channels. In his view, Spanish media spend too much time analyzing decisions made by video assistant referee (VAR), and not enough time reporting on the trial of the “political prisoners.”

"If the Spanish television channels that are here spent a little more time covering the trial of the political prisoners, which is super unjust, so the people of Spain could see a little more of what's going on, instead of talking about VAR, maybe the country would be doing a little better,” the player said in post-match comments in Madrid last night.

"They've been accused of crimes that they didn't really commit"

Piqué is not the only football personality to publicly comment on the Catalan Trial and the political tensions between Spain and Catalonia. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola also spoke about the case recently, saying he hopes the prosecuted Catalan leaders can soon return to their families and normal lives.

Speaking in a press conference ahead of the English League Cup final that was played last weekend, the ex FC Barcelona manager said: "When I saw what happened a year ago, I couldn't imagine that a year later they'd still be in prison without bail.”

“The trail is going ahead and in the last few days I've been able to see how some of our politicians have had the opportunity to give their testimony,” the Catalan coach continued.

“They've demonstrated that they've been accused of crimes that they didn't really commit. I hope that the trial will show what happened and that they'll be able to return to their families. I hope they can return to their normal lives,” he said.