Thread by @DianaKristinne

Gonna translate a bit of what Pique said on his Twitch last night.

Pique: "Today was a day full of emotions, first of all because we had our fans with us again, even though there were just about 20k. It's been about 17 months of playing in empty stadiums and the truth is that hearing people again is amazing...

When you have fans with you all the time you take it for granted and maybe you don't put that much importance on having the fans on your side when you're at home or the adrenaline you get from people being against you when you're away from home...

So today, after 17 months, it was an unique experience, the people were really up for it, you could tell that they were excited to watch football again and I think the team also did great today...

We were lucky enough to score pretty early and we dominated the game. La Real is a great team, but we played great for 70-80 minutes, we were 3-0 ahead and then they had a couple of chances and scored 2 goals and the last minutes were more complicated.

But generally it was a great game. In the aftermath of Leo and everything related to his exit I think that this win gives the team a lot of confidence, we're very excited.

And it's true that nothing will ever be the same again as when we had Leo, but I think we have a good enough team to get people excited, to compete for titles until the end of the season and today was a first step for that.

I was fortunate enough to score, which was an important goal because it was the first and I think it calmed us for the rest of the game. We felt the fans by our side, which was by far the most important thing of the day at the Camp Nou.

The fans are so so so important, during these 17 months without them it was really bad, you were competing and felt like you were training... But it looks like we're coming out on the other side of this so hopefully we'll have full stadiums like other countries here too."

"During this week you all read about the pay cut and everything related to that with the registration of Memphis, Eric and Rey Manaj. I just wanted to say that from the first minute that we were informed (me, Busi, Sergi, Jordi) we were very open to it.

We were born here and raised here, this is our home and we understood the issue. We had to get aligned and we did everything we could and I know that the rest are close to signing too, but because of having to register the new players it was decided that I would sign first.

I wanted to say this because sometimes there are misunderstandings and at the end my teammates will make the same effort I did and I want the Camp Nou to always support all of us and help the team, which is what we need.

It was something that we needed to do, because of the pandemic and because of the bad management of the last few years, we wanted to help the club so that this gets fixed and we can get out of this problem.

During its history FC Barcelona has always survived the problems it had and I think that today was a small step at the start of an era in which we won't have Leo with us, but I think we'll experience plenty of positive emotions."

"Today felt really good. During the preseason you train, you play games, but it's not the same as official games. Personally I felt really good, for me the starts of seasons are a bit more difficult, due to my body type, I'm like a Diesel, but the feeling is really positive."

"I've said it many times that I want to retire here, I can't see myself playing anywhere else. I already played elsewhere when I was young, I don't have that curiosity that maybe others do. When I'll feel I'm not competitive enough to defend this shirt I'll raise my hand and go.

Football has very positive and also negative things, like the fact that it doesn't last long. We'd all love to play until we're 60, but that's not possible."

"At the time I gave my opinion on the Superleague. I do believe that at one point there will be a change in football, but I'd like to maintain it as it is because I'm a traditionalist about this. There are a lot of fanbases in Spain that would get excluded from this competition.

It's true that as we can see this summer with all the signings that are happening, who's behind your club is very important. Having nation states financing clubs means that Barca or Madrid are going to have trouble competing, because they don't have owners, they're fan owned.

So you have to put a lot of work in the academy. Especially at Barca, our past results show us that. And now there's a great upcoming generation. Gavi, Nico, Demir, Riqui, Pedri (who isn't from the academy but is very young), Ansu, Araujo, Eric... They're very good.

I think that at Barca that should be the essence, this is what we have to protect. La Masia is everything to us and we can never put it aside. So in order to compete with these teams, clubs or you could even call them countries, you need to invest in the academy, that's our way."

"I think that equality is the most important thing when it comes to women and women's football. As a club, the fact that we won the treble last season with the women's team meant a huge boost for them and we have to keep going with it.

Every year they progress more. The fact that it's now fully professional, that women can earn a living just with playing football, that their income is constantly growing we're all in favor of that. It's not just Barca, all the clubs and institutions have to back women's football

The investment from UEFA, the league and the clubs keeps growing the game and more and more people get involved and go to the stadium and like the game. We have to support them. It was a big joy for me that they won the CL last season, because we could only win the Copa,

It's also true that we don't have to make comparisons, when they win say that the men's team didn't do their job or the other way around. Both teams are trying to do the best they can. We have to keep investing in them and women's football in general for it to keep growing."

"Laporta took over in March and then when the season ended we were informed that the club can't go on paying us what it is and that we have to help out.

All of us that were contacted (Sergi, Jordi, Busi and me) were open to doing it. Then the days passed and after the Euro the conversations happened in order to align our interests because we wanted to do the best for the club. But time was running out to register the signings

so at least one of us had to sign and make it official so that they could register them and it was decided that it would be me and we did that and it worked out. In the next days I'm sure the others will be made official too.

I think that we have to be grateful to the club. Most of the time, like all employees everywhere, we all look out for ourselves and our interests. But Barca made us all great. When you sign for this club it always gives you more than you give it.

You can play very well, but the global impact that FC Barcelona gives you is only possible at a few clubs in this game. I first got here when I was 10, left when I was 17, returned at 21, so that's 20 years of my life here.

The club gives you everything, so you have to be grateful for that and understand the situation. But there was no problem, we all understood each other. I was first, but the other captains will do the same shortly and we hope that eases the burden on the club

so that it can recover. Hopefully people can come to the stadium, to the museum, to the store so that the club can get more income and invest in the future of the club. Barca has to be able to sign people if it wants to and in this window they had to sign who they could and then

you had the issue with Leo, having to let go of your best player because of the financial problems is painful."

"Yes, it was a surprise what happened with Leo because everyone was saying it was done. I didn't talk to him while they were negotiating, because you want to allow people space to make the best decisions for themselves, whoever they are.

But everyone was saying that the contract was done and then out of the blue they inform us that he won't be staying and of course it was difficult. I've known Leo since we were 13. And just like what I said with the club earlier, he's given us so much and made us all better.

You have to accept it, because that's the reality. And then we all try to take a step up in order to stay competitive and wish him the best of luck at PSG and we'll see what we can achieve this year."

"People sometimes can be cruel about this. It's true that we earn a lot of money, but that money is earned in a short space of time in which 1. You're young, 2. Generally you don't have financial education to manage that money and

3. You get used to a high end lifestyle because you think this is going to last forever and it doesn't. So for a lot of players when they retire they're faced with an abyss. This happens to a lot of players.

So when people say "they earn a lot for doing nothing, they just kick a ball around" that's true. But we also generate that money. And besides that we don't have careers until we're 60 like other jobs.

And those of us who play for big teams do earn a lot of money, but for many of the players in the first league and especially the Segunda. And after you retire you can do other things in football: coaching, sports managements, radio shows, etc, but for most it's very difficult.

So people don't know how difficult it is to properly manage earning a lot of money at such a young age. If you're not at least prudent in how you manage it, that money is gone in the blink of an eye.

I've talked to people from La Liga about this before. There should be like a class or something to help the players manage their assets. I think that's fundamental.

You start off when you're 17 and until you're 23-24 you think you're the king of the world and spend everything. After you're a bit more mature and until you're like 30 you make better decisions. After 30 you realize this is ending soon and for many it's too late to save.

So I think that from a young age players should have the lessons and the tools they need to manage this. Because managing fame and money isn't easy. It's a world that looks great from the outside and it is, even more so when you're older and manage all this.

But I've seen players, I've had teammates that retired and then had problems. Life after football is very difficult. And people don't see that part. They see the numbers that come out in the press, which are usually made up, and there's a lot of populism about it.

So, yes, there's a lot of money in football and players earn a lot. But it's a very short period of your life and when you retire there's an abyss."

"By there end with Bartomeu there were plenty of players that felt betrayed and that's how that relationship ended. Since Laporta got here there has been a change in the culture, he comes to the training center more often, he's closer to us...

It's true that what happened with Leo was unexpected and it hurt all of us, but they're trying to put the house in order and re-establish some hierarchies and that the president is the one who is in charge and makes decisions, because in the past sometimes that was missing."

"I think Eric is a player who has a great future at Barca. You can tell he grew up here, he plays the ball well, knows how to build from the back, has all the concepts learned by heart and I think he's going to play here for a long time.

He does things really simple and he's very intelligent. I've always said that in order to be a Barca defender the physical characteristics are very important but you need a good head.

And Eric has that, he knows how to position himself. He played a great game today and he's going to be important in the future of the club."