Gerard Piqué

Gerard Piqué i Bernabéu; born 2 February 1987 in Barcelona, Catalonia) is a Catalan footballer, currently playing as a central defender for FC Barcelona. A product of Barça's pedrera, he initially left the club for Manchester United in 2004, where he remained for four years, before returning to Barça under Josep Guardiola's leadership, helping the club become the first Iberic club ever to complete the treble. Piqué is one of four players to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams, the others being Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Samuel Eto'o.

Early career

Piqué started his career in FC Barcelona's youth teams as a defensive midfielder, but before he signed his first professional contract with the club, he decided to join Manchester United. The Premier League side did not pay a fee for Piqué as he was too young to have a professional contract.

Return to Barcelona

On 27 May 2008, Piqué signed a four-year contract with Barcelona, with a €50 million buy-out clause. Barcelona paid a €5 million fee for the player. He expressed his joy at re-signing with his boyhood club, although he admitted he had enjoyed his spell at Manchester United: "I am very happy to be back, I didn't think I would be here again but this is very good for me. Manchester United is a great club and I enjoyed winning things. To play with world class players has helped me and now I want to continue this at Barça."
Piqué's first goal for Barcelona came in the club's 5–2 UEFA Champions League group stage win at Sporting CP on 26 November 2008. His first domestic goal for the club followed two months later, on 29 January 2009, in a Copa del Rey match against local rivals RCD Espanyol. The goal, which came from a corner kick in the 57th minute, turned out to be the game winner in a 3–2 victory for Barcelona.
Piqué scored his first league goal for Barcelona on 2 May 2009, in a 6–2 away thrashing of Real Madrid, in El Clásico. On 13 May 2009, he picked up the first trophy of his Barcelona career as he helped his club to a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final. Three days later, Barcelona clinched the league title after Real Madrid lost 3–2 to Vila-real CF, with two games left in the season.
He played against his former club Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League Final on 27 May, which Barcelona won 2–0, hence completing a historic treble. On 26 February 2010, Pique signed a contract extension that will keep him at FC Barcelona until at least the summer of 2015. On 28 April 2010, Pique scored in Barcelona's semi-final second leg against Internazionale, scoring the only Barcelona goal of the game. Barcelona lost 3–2 on aggregate. On April 2, 2011, Pique scored the winning goal in an away La Liga match against Vila-real CF, which saw Barcelona win with 0-1, and hence continue on top of the table for the 17th consecutive week, with an 8-point difference than second-place, longtime rivals, Real Madrid FC.