Piqué, expelled without playing in his last game as a professional

Gerard Piqué was sent off without playing in his last game as a professional footballer. Barça’s Catalan defender, summoned for the match against Osasuna at El Sadar, jumped onto the pitch after the break and did not stop chasing and rebuking the referee on the way to the changing rooms. Gil Manzano showed Piqué the direct red card for his attitude at the end of the first half.

The last match played by Piqué with Barcelona and as a professional player was therefore last Saturday against Almería at the Camp Nou, where the Barça captain started and played 84 minutes, until he was substituted, to receive an unforgettable ovation from of the culé fans.

Aware that he was not going to play at El Sadar, Piqué forced his expulsion at half-time with his repeated protests to the referee, after Osasuna went ahead with a goal much protested by the azulgranas, for an alleged foul on Marcos Alonso -the action it had to be reviewed by the VAR-, and the expulsion of Lewandowski, who had to leave the field of play in the first half, when Barça lost 1-0. The Polish striker received a second yellow card, after receiving a disputed first, for elbowing David García, and left Barcelona with ten.

At the end of the first half, Piqué entered the field and asked Gil Manzano for an explanation for Lewandowski’s expulsion. The Barça defender chased Gil Manzano and even, while he criticized him for his performance, he pointed his finger at the Extremaduran referee when they both went to the changing rooms. Piqué could no longer sit on the Barça bench in the second half and thus said goodbye to football, with an image to remember.

In a classic against Real Madrid played in April 2021, Piqué also entered the field to reproach Gil Manzano for not adding more added time. Piqué has said goodbye to Barça and football as the Barça player with the most expulsions, along with Hristo Stoichkov, after seeing the Catalan in El Sadar his red card number 11.