Yaya Toure Insists Rafa Marquez Was '10 Times Better' Than Gerard Pique

Yaya Toure has insisted that Rafael Marquez was 10 times better than former teammate and current Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.

Yaya Toure has insisted that Rafael Marquez was 10 times better than former teammate and current Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.

Marquez made over 240 appearances for Barcelona between 2003 and 2010, winning plenty of silverware in the process, including two Champions League trophies and four La Liga titles. He recently hung up his boots after making history at the 2018 World Cup by becoming only the third player to have played in five separate tournaments.

In an appearance on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, Toure was asked to put together his 'ultimate XI' from the players he had played with during his illustrious career, which included significant spells at Barcelona and Manchester City.

The team was rather bizarre, featuring a unique 3-1-6 formation that accommodated no less than five strikers, and there were plenty of omissions from Toure's days at Barça that didn't go unnoticed. 

Just the five strikers for @YayaToure...

Read more from Toure's #MNF appearance: https://t.co/Jscz4TWY4m pic.twitter.com/joYXmnd87s

— Sky Sports Retro (@SkySportsRetro) January 14, 2019

One player who didn't feature was Pique and, when questioned about Marquez's inclusion over the Barcelona veteran, Toure was happy to explain his decision, stating, as quoted bytalkSPORT: “Marquez was a tough defender. I don’t think people remember him because he didn’t play in England.

“But maybe if you want to remember him, go to YouTube and you check Rafael Marquez, Barcelona, No. 4, what a defender.

“He was 10 times better than Gerard Pique. Ten times better. Believe me. He was so so good. If you watch him on YouTube, you’ll see. I’ve been in love with him.”

Toure also opted to leave out the likes of Victor Valdes, Ronaldinho and Xavi, all of which achieved tremendous success during their time at Camp Nou.