Gerard Pique Receives Red Card vs. Athletic Bilbao: Latest Comments and Reaction

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

By itself, overturning a 4-0 aggregate deficit is extremely difficult. Gerard Pique didn't do Barcelona any favors with his sending off in the 55th minute against Athletic Bilbao in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup.

Pique earned a straight red card for protesting a decision to one of the linesmen. Bleacher Report UK envisioned the match official channeling the Soup Nazi as he sent the central defender to the dressing room:

Meanwhile, Thierry Ennui's pun game is on point:    

Brooks Peck of the Dirty Tackle joked Pique might have had his head turned:

The 28-year-old has long been a stalwart of the Barca back four, and it's rare to see him exiting a match so early. According to WhoScored.com, this was the first time since January 2013 that Pique had picked up a red card.

At the time of Pique's dismissal, Barcelona had grabbed a goal back to make the aggregate score 4-1. Still, SB Nation's Barca Blaugranes didn't think it was going to be the Catalans' day:

Aritz Aduriz added an insurance goal for Athletic in the 73rd minute, which all but assured them the Supercopa title.

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As a result of the red card, Pique will miss Barcelona's La Liga opener, which is coincidentally against Athletic this Sunday.