NOT A DIRTY PLAYER

The Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has stated that he is not a dirty player after receiving his marching orders in recent match against Real Sociedad.

Barcelona lost their first match of the season in the league after suffering a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad. Gerard Pique was sent off in the match after receiving his second yellow card.

The player has had his fair share of disciplinary problems, which have come to the fore in recent months. Yet, Piqué has stated that he is not a dirty player. The Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova revealed after the match that he warned Pique to be careful about not to receive the second yellow card.

Barcelona managed to take a 2-0 lead in the match, but they could not prevent Real Sociedad from getting back into the match. Messi and Pedro had given Barcelona the lead before Castro pulled one back for Sociedad in the 41st minute. He then scored his second goal of the game just minutes after the red card to Pique. Agirretxe then completed a stunning fightback by scoring in the final minutes of the match to send Barcelona to the first league defeat of the season. This has helped Real Madrid to close the gap to 15 points.

“I don’t consider myself a dirty player at all, but I was given my marching orders. They were two isolated instances where the referee decided to give a yellow card, and that’s that. We have to accept it,” said Pique. “At half time, I told Pique to be careful as his next foul would most likely result in a second caution. Even if his sending-off was for a clear foul, there must have been 200 other cases similar to his tonight. I don’t have to add more,” said the Barcelona manager after the match.