Barca’s Pique blasts ‘roulette’ refereeing
Print Edition
BARCELONA defender Gerard Pique believes his side is suffering from unfavorable treatment from referees compared to arch-rival Real Madrid.
Barcelona lost 1-2 at Athletic Bilbao in a Copa del Rey last-16 first-leg game on Thursday. Pique and Neymar had penalty appeals turned down while Athletic forward Aritz Aduriz, who scored the first goal, escaped a red card for striking Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti.
Athletic ended the game with nine men as Raul Garcia and Ander Iturraspe both earned two yellow cards, but Pique still criticized the performance of referee David Fernandez Borbalan.
The Spain international, who has a reputation for stoking the long rivalry between Barcelona and Real, also complained that Zinedine Zidane’s side had a soft penalty awarded in its 3-0 win over Sevilla on Wednesday.
“We want to play football and not roulette, which is what this type of refereeing provokes. The penalty claims by Neymar and me are clear but we already know how this works,” Pique told reporters. “We all saw what happened in Real’s game with Sevilla, I hope referees improve their standards.”
Barcelona has been the scourge of Athletic in the last two Copas del Rey, beating the Basques in the 2015 final and knocking them out at the quarterfinal stage last season but it faces elimination unless it can turn the tie around next Wednesday.
“The tie is wide open and we hope we can go through at the Nou Camp,” Pique said.
“We need to have one of our great nights there and for the fans to help us turn it around because once again our aim this season is to win everything.”
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