Sergio Ramos said he would be surprised if Lionel Messi had made controversial posts to Twitter about referee decisions, but that the ones his Barcelona teammate Gerard Pique made are just more of the same.
Pique, 30, seemed to suggest on Twitter that Real Madrid were the beneficiaries of a questionable call from referee Jesus Gil Manzano for handball on Villarreal's Bruno Soriano. Cristiano Ronaldo converted from the spot to level the score at 2-2 following the call, and Alvaro Morata headed Madrid in front before full-time to earn the visitors all three points in a 3-2 win to maintain their spot atop the La Liga table.
Contra los mismos equipos. 8 puntos. 8 y tal. Los recortes son de prensa de Madrid por la duda. pic.twitter.com/nZUDgrjuVd
- Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) February 26, 2017
Following the victory, Ramos told reporters: "I would be surprised if it would be [Lionel] Messi [to write the tweet].
"We already know about Pique's world, where everything's a plot against him.
"The referees have a difficult job, we have to try and make them more comfortable. Referees sometimes give you and others take away, but you have to be prepared for everything.
"We are not going to get into these issues because it will not change anything, the three points will be added and we will continue to be first."
This is not the first time that Pique has questioned the officiating this season in La Liga. He said after Barcelona's 1-1 draw against Villarreal on Jan. 8 that Barcelona were denied two clear penalty decisions. That prompted the Spanish Referees' Committee (CTA) to file a complaint against the Barcelona defender, who also said officials missed two penalties in their 2-1 Copa del Rey defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Jan. 5.
Had Real gone on to lose or draw the match, Barcelona would have been in first place at the end of the weekend, but the win put Zinedine Zidane's team back atop the table with a game in hand.