Pique quashes talk of knee injury by declaring himself 'ready' for Barcelona duty

Despite reports suggesting he could be out of for up to a month with an untimely knock, the World Cup winner is in contention to face Valencia

Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique is “ready” to face Valencia in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Thursday.

Pique was reportedly set to miss up to a month of action due to a knee injury sustained during Sunday’s La Liga draw with Catalan rivals Espanyol, when he headed the equaliser in a fiery encounter.

The 31-year-old was criticised for putting his finger to his lips while celebrating in front of opposition fans, having previously drawn their ire for referring to the club as “Espanyol de Cornella”.

Article continues below

Editors' Picks

Sarri vindicated for dropping Kepa as Chelsea & Pedro impress in Spurs win Magnificent Mane takes centre stage as league leaders Liverpool put on a five-star show Lukaku sends reminder that his Man Utd career is far from over Man City monitoring Barcelona & Chelsea target Jovic

Pique came through training on Wednesday and was subsequently named in the Barca squad to face Valencia at Mestalla.

The following day he posted a photo to social media with the caption “ready” to indicate he is prepared to feature for Ernesto Valverde’s side.

Barca won the first leg at Camp Nou last week 1-0, Luis Suarez scoring a second-half winner to put the defending champions in control of the tie.