Mexico icon Márquez ready for Barca job - Piqué

Gerard Piqué has told ESPN that former Barcelona defender Rafa Márquez is ready to coach the Catalan club after impressing with the club's B team.

Márquez, who won 147 caps for Mexico as a player, took over as manager of Barça's reserve team, who play in the third tier of Spanish football, in 2022.

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He led them into the playoffs last season, losing 5-4 on aggregate to Real Madrid Castilla, and is expected to push for promotion again this year.

Asked if Márquez was ready for the next step in his coaching career by ESPN's César Caballero, Piqué said: "Yes, for sure."

"Rafa is more than ready for a range of things [such as coaching Barcelona] because of the attitude he has, his knowledge of the game and his experience.

"He's in a learning process as a coach right now and I am sure that in the future we will see him on a bench in LaLiga. We will see if that is with Barça or another team, but he's preparing excellently."

Márquez, who played for Barça between 2003 and 2010, previously coached the youth teams at RSD Alcalá, a small club based in the Madrid region, after hanging up his boots in 2018.

His primary task at Barça, above promotion, is to develop players for the first team, with many getting chances this season due to the Catalan club's long injury list.

With Gavi suspended and Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Jules Koundé and Sergi Roberto all injured, Barça have just 12 first-team registered players available for Wednesday's Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Therefore, coach Xavi Hernandez has had to call up several players from the B team and the youth team, including Marc Casadó, Aleix Garrido, Pau Cubarsí and Marc Guiu, who scored the winning goal against Athletic Club at the weekend on his senior debut.

Barça are unlikely to have many of their injured players back for Saturday's Clásico against LaLiga leaders Real Madrid, although Piqué still ranks his former side as favourites.

"Barcelona are playing well, getting good results and playing at home, so even though it's the Clásico, they're favourites," he added. "Plus, they have a better team than Real Madrid."

Barça, the only unbeaten team in LaLiga this season after 10 games, are just one point behind Madrid and joint leaders Girona going into this weekend's match.

Piqué was speaking to ESPN in Mexico, where he launched the Kings League Americas on Wednesday, the sister competition to the tournament of the same name that launched in Spain earlier this year.

Former Mexico international Miguel Layún has been named as the league's president, while footballers Javier 'Chicharito' Hernández and James Rodríguez will both have teams in the league, which will start in 2024.