Gerard Pique is Catalonia’s darling

Gerard Pique has been named Best Catalan Sportsperson at the 19th Festival of Catalan Sport.

The 28-year-old Barcelona defender played a key role in his side’s five-trophy haul in 2015 which included the Champions League title.

On receiving his award, Pique said: “In a career there are good times and bad times. In good, you should not think that you are better than everyone and in the bad, you shouldn’t think that you are the worst. As the years go by you realise you have to follow your own path.”

Meanwhile, the Barcelona first-team were named Best Catalan Team at the ceremony at the city’s Maritime Museum.

While Pique has earned 74 international caps for Spain and featured in their 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship winning squads, the player has been outspoken about his views on the autonomy of Catalonia.

The Spanish anti-violence commission has compiled a report on several posts from Pique’s Twitter account, which was sent to a disciplinary committee to decide if they need to be investigated further.

“They can study the tweets, they’re there for them to study what they have to study. What difference does it make whether I think it’s fair or not when they’re just going to do whatever they feel like anyway ”