Report: Gerard Pique, Shakira Have Split to Cap Turbulent Week for Barcelona Star

Pique and Shakira have two children.

Gerard Pique's turbulent week in the press has been capped, after reports suggested he had split up with long-time partner and pop star Shakira.

The Barcelona defender is believed to have ended his relationship with the Colombian superstar, according to Spanish website Cotilleo.

Various reports in Shakira's home nation had suggested that a break had been on the cards for a few months now, but a source close to Shakira apparently informed Cotilleo that she had "confirmed the seperation" in recent days.

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The decision to end their relationship is the latest blot in a difficult week for Pique, who has had to deal with the huge fallout from the recent Catalonia independence referendum.

Pique and Shakira were last seen together in public at the former's Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi's wedding to childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo in Argentina.

The couple have two children - Milan, four, and Sasha, who is two - but it would be expected that Pique will be allowed to continue seeing his children if he and Shakira eventually split.

Other media claims since the summer appeared to suggest that Shakira had withdrawn from spending too much time with the WAGs of other Barcelona first-team players after Pique's future at the club was cast into doubt.

If that was a show of solidarity with her husband then there has been a huge turnaround in fortunes for their relationship since, with the duo's split seemingly imminent.

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Pique was booed by fans of the Spanish national team on Monday after he posted a tweet supporting Catalonia's wish to secede from the rest of Spain.

Media reports then alleged that the 30-year-old's working relationship with centre-back partner and Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos had become broken beyond repair over the tweet - a claim that both Pique and Ramos have since denied.

Pique also offered to quit the senior Spain national side in the event that Catalans voted for independence, but has also since backtracked on this comments.