Gerard Pique was one of the Barcelona players that spoke in the mixed zone after the Copa del Rey elimination to Athletic Club on Thursday.

He was asked about this week's events, with Lionel Messi calling out sporting director Eric Abidal on Instagram for comments about Ernesto Valverde's dismissal.

"It's not the moment to dig up dirt," Pique said. "There's complete unity in the dressing room. The KO is a blow, but we've spoken among ourselves about the fact we played well, despite all the noise generated this week.

"Everyone knows what they have done well and what they have not and now we must keep working. We need to stop biting our nose to spite our face because that won't help us.

"We built this club on victories and we must do that again. We are working towards doing that, we are playing better, we're adapting to the ideas of the coach and the dressing room is as united as ever, I assure you."

Another issue Pique dealt with was the pre-match huddle, which Barça's players didn't partake in before recent games against Leganes and Levante, but it did return pre-Athletic.

"Sometimes we haven't done the huddle because we have new coaches and we end the warmup differently," Pique explained. "We did it today. We're calm in the dressing room, looking forward to the most beautiful part of the season. We have the team to win the two trophies left."

Finally, Pique played down the injury which forced him off at the end of the game. He's suspended for the trip to Real Betis on Sunday, so has time to recover for Getafe next weekend.