Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has torn into the club over their handling of the Lionel Messi contract situation.

The criticism comes on the eve of the first Clasico against Real Madrid this season and two days after the 33-year-old Pique signed a new three-year deal at Barca.

Club president Josep Bartomeu was the target of a scathing interview by Messi, however, the relationship between the two seems irreparable, something that has left Pique astounded.

“I ask myself: How can it be that the best-ever player to have played the game, who we have been lucky enough to enjoy, wakes up one day and sends a Burofax (recorded delivery mail) because he feels like he’s not being listened to?” Pique told La Vanguardia newspaper.

“It’s all too confrontational. What’s going on? Messi deserves everything; the new stadium should be named after him first and then the sponsor. We should preserve our figureheads, not under-appreciate them. It really gets to me.”