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Central defenders are the spine for any strong and successful football team. In the last decade, two central defenders who have stood out head and shoulders ahead of the rest are Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique.
The Ramos-Pique partnership is the biggest reason why Spain were able to dominate the way they did from 2008 to 2012 winning EURO Championships and FIFA World Cup 2010.
If that was not enough, Ramos with Real Madrid and Pique with Barcelona have been part of two incredibly successful teams in the last decade. Since 2010, Ramos and Pique have six Champions League winners medal and eight LaLiga titles between them which is nothing short of insane.
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Having said that, we are talking about the two titans of world football and one is definitely bound to be seen better of the two in one or several aspects. Many pick Ramos as their go-to defender for all situations but we believe that Gerard Pique has had a better career than his Spanish compatriot.
Instead of vague comparisons, we have picked three specific reasons which put Pique in a better place than Ramos and would compel you to at least think that Gerard Pique has indeed had a better career than Sergio Ramos.
Here are those three reasons.
#1. Number of Major Honours (36 vs 24 in Pique’s favour)
Winning titles has never been a worry for either Ramos or Pique. The duo in total have lifted 60 trophies till date with Gerard Pique leading this battle 36-24. Barcelona’s domestic dominance has been a major factor in Pique’s trophy count.
LaLiga and Copa del Ray have been Barcelona’s stomping ground with Pique winning eight league titles in 12 seasons at the club and also has six cup success as compared to Ramos’s four league titles and two league cup wins.
Barcelona have been the real kings of domestic Spanish football for the last decade or so and this cannot be argued upon by even the most loyal of Real Madrid fans. Every year when the season starts, Barcelona are seen as the favourites to win the LaLiga title.
This confidence does not only come from Lionel Messi’s presence up top but also with Gerard Pique marshalling his defence and making sure that Barcelona are a tight unit at the back and are not conceding cheap goals.
Another factor why Pique deserves more credit is the fact he has been a constant figure in Barcelona’s defence with players around him changing season after season. Despite so much of chopping and changing, Pique has ensured Barcelona have kept the same vigour about their defence season after season.
On the other hand, Ramos has enjoyed the luxury of playing alongside Raphael Varane, Marcelo, and Daniel Carvajal for the best part of this decade. Despite the stability, Real Madrid’s domestic honours lie well behind their arch-rivals.
Also check out: La Liga La Liga fixtures La liga table 2019-20
#2 Pique has played for two European giants
Gerard Pique’s youth career may have started in Barcelona but the Spanish centre-back got a taste of major European football with Manchester United. Pique was part of United’s 2007-08 campaign when the Red Devils won the Premier League and the Champions League titles.
Although Pique did not get a lot of playing time at United, but him being around the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic sharpened his understanding of the game. Pique opted to play in a foreign country at a very early age and took the hard road to reach the level he is at today.
Even though Pique left United to join Barcelona in 2008, the 32-year-old defender has always praised the football knowledge he received at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson. Pique firmly believes that Manchester United made him the player he is today and he takes pride in representing two of the biggest teams of European football.
Pique was once quoted saying, “When I left my friends there to spend four years at Manchester United it was tough. At the same time that was a great experience for me.
I grew up a lot there. I am who I am because of the period I had at Manchester United, even though I didn’t play as much as I wanted to."
Despite the lack of game time at Old Trafford, Pique got a taste of foreign culture and a completely different dressing room environment which not only made him more humble but also aware of what he needed to do in the long run to be a starter for his club and country.
Unlike Pique, Sergio Ramos never had the taste of playing in a different culture or adapt to things that do not come naturally to him. It may not eventually limit him as a player but it somewhere curtails the horizon of player development.
Sergio Ramos joined Real Madrid after one season with Sevilla and with all due respect to Sevilla, they are not Manchester United in terms of on-field pedigree and off-field learning. Pique has managed to be loved and respected at two major European sides which no one can take away from him.
#3. Ramos AKA Mr Controversy, Pique AKA Mr Stability
Sergio Ramos is a more ferocious defender than Gerard Pique, thus it makes him equally vulnerable to be cautioned and put his team in danger. Stats prove that Ramos gets a yellow/red card in every third game for Real Madrid.
Ramos has 151 yellow cards, 14 indirect red cards (two yellows), and six direct cards vs Pique’s 89 yellows, four indirect cards, and three direct cards. Ramos holds the unwanted record of receiving most red cards in LaLiga history and his temper often gets him and Real Madrid in trouble in crunch situations.
Apart from red cards, Ramos’s recent time at Madrid has been surrounded by contract fiascos and continued transfer speculations. In the past three seasons, Ramos has flirted with a move to Manchester United twice and has even had to organise a press conference to ensure he is still committed to Madrid.
On the other hand, Pique has never been linked with a controversial move away from the club and he is, by all means, Mr Barcelona - an epitome of consistency at the club. Pique is most likely to retire at the club like Xavi did and become a club legend.
However, one can never be sure of how long will Ramos remain at Madrid and the manner in which he will seal his exit from the Spanish capital.
