Barcelona centre back Gerard Pique has been accused of deliberately getting booked in La Liga to avoid a potential ban for El Clasico against Real Madrid on October 26.
It was his fifth yellow card of the season and means he will miss the trip to Eibar on 19 October once the international break is over. But in picking up a yellow and earning a one-game suspension last night, Pique will now be free to play El Clasico.
Pique picked up a deliberate yellow card yesterday by kicking the ball away in the dying moments of Barca's 4-0 win so he'd miss the Eibar game due to suspension & able to play the El Clasico.
Last year Sergio Ramos was banned from Champions League game for the same thing. ? pic.twitter.com/YZzvQbHqOa
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) October 7, 2019
Spanish outlet Marca are reporting that Pique’s actions were intentional, with referee Miguel Antonio Mateu Lahoz forced into booking the defender in the 85th minute when Barca were four goals to the good.
For instance, in the 2018-19 Champions League round-of-16 first-leg clash between AFC Ajax and Real Madrid, Sergio Ramos picked up a yellow card on purpose, so that he can sit out in the second-leg and play in the quarter-finals when they qualify.
Pique picked yellow card on purpose to miss Eibar game due to suspension and to be able to play at El Clasico. By blasting a ball away in the final minutes of 4-0 win over Sevilla forced Lahoz to show him yellow card. ?(@Marca) pic.twitter.com/mmK2NU8rnF
— VBET News (@VBETnews) October 7, 2019
The Spanish veteran later found out that he was too early to make his prediction, as Ajax thrashed them 4-1 in the second leg to eliminate them from the competition.