Barcelona central defender Gerard Piqué ends his elusive 14 years long career with a red card from the bench in a dramatic 2-1 victory against Osasuna.
The 35-year-old was sent off not long after teammate Robert Lewandowski was shown a second yellow.
“I was going to use Gerard (Piqué),” said Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernández. “We knew that Chadi (Riad) was going to come in, Andreas (Christensen) was struggling with an injury. Eric (García) had some discomfort in the warmup. And we were forced to not have him start. We did think about bringing in Gerard, but he was sent off at halftime when things got tense.”
What did Gerard Piqué tell that propelled the referee to pull a red card?
Piqué came onto the pitch during half-time and accused referee Jesús Gil Manzano of deliberately making decisions against the Catalans. Interestingly enough, the Spanish referee has also red-carded Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suárez, and Gareth Bale to name a few.
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| Gerard Piqué was seen arguing with the match official |
“Did you see the corner you gave against us? You are the referee that has f***ed us over the most by a distance. It’s a f***ing disgrace. F**k your mother.”
According to Mundo Deportivo, this is what he said to the match official which led to him being sent off.
Considered as one of the greatest defenders of his generation, Gerard Piqué’s final game as a footballer is surely the one to forget about.
On the bright side, an 85th-minute equalizer by Raphinha secured all three points for Barcelona, keeping them five points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid.