"Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique love each other," Diego Costa insisted, to the surprise of many football fans, last week.

Was the Brazil-born Spain international speaking the truth - or was it a tongue-in-cheek comment?

Ramos and Pique are constantly taking subtle digs at each other via the medium of the Spanish press, who obviously lap it up, and this undoubtedly contributes towards with hero status in the eyes of their respective team’s supporters.

Ramos is Real Madrid’s captain; a central defender who leads by example on the pitch and consistently pops up with vital goals.

Pique, meanwhile, is a leader for Barcelona; a player some fans at the Camp Nou believe will, one day in the future, become the club’s president.

Pique and Ramos put their rivalry aside for Spain

Despite trading barbs about each other’s teams - and each other - season after season, the two defenders have won everything together at international level.

They’ve put aside their rivalry and worked together to help Spain win three of the last five major international tournaments, including the 2010 World Cup.

And minutes after Tuesday’s international friendly between France and Spain, footage from inside the Stade de France provided an insight into how the two rivals really feel about each other.

They were spotted sharing a joke, either side of David de Gea, and maybe Costa was right after all.

Watch: Pique and Ramos in the tunnel

They were back at each other's throats after the match...

However, as soon as the match finished - Spain recorded an impressive 2-0 win - they were back at each other’s throats again.

Two big decisions went Spain’s way against Les Bleus - Antoine Griezmann had a goal disallowed for offside while Gerard Deulofeu was awarded a goal despite the fact the assistant referee had raised his flag - thanks to video technology.

"In the end, it all comes down to me wearing white," Pique, per Marca, joked after the match. "It worked really well and I think it'd be a good idea to have VAR [Video Assistant Referee] in LaLiga.

"We've been asking for it for some time."

He went on to say: "I don't like the values Real Madrid transmit, although there are players there I really appreciate with and am friends with.

"I don't doubt Raul's madridismo and I'd never work at Real Madrid.

"What I don't like about Real Madrid is how those in the box seats pull the strings.

"I don't like what they transmit, as a club, what do you want me to tell you.

"Almost all of them are friends and I can play cards with them but we know how this works."

Ramos: We expect this from Pique

"What Pique says won't change the values, our badge, our history or our titles," Ramos responded, per Marca. "What he says will provoke headlines and sell newspapers but we live off of that.

"In every box seat strings are pulled, but if anything, they [Barcelona] should in general have more to be quiet about then we do."

He added: "The dressing room laughed at [Pique’s comment].

"The white shirt looks better on him and he doesn't know how to react to that.

"Years ago we got our relationship back on track and it is magnificent - the group comes first."