Gerard Pique Discusses Refereeing in Spain After Barcelona's 2-1 Loss to Bilbao

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has compared refereeing in Spain to "roulette" after his side's 2-1 defeat to Athletic Club Bilbao on Thursday in the first leg of their Copa del Rey last-16 tie. 

Although the Basque team had Raul Garcia and Ander Iturraspe sent off in the second period, Barcelona were not happy with some of the decisions match official David Fernandez Borbalan made, especially not to award a penalty for a foul on Neymar.

"The penalty on Neymar was extremely clear and the one that Gorka [Iraizoz] did to me, too," said a frustrated Pique after the contest, per Sport. "But we know how this works already. And we saw what happened yesterday in Sevilla vs. [Real] Madrid. In line with what's happened recently. We want to play football and not roulette, which is what this refereeing causes."

Additionally, as reported by AS, Athletic striker Aritz Aduriz was lucky not to be given his marching orders in the 36th minute, as he appeared to aim a punch Samuel Umtiti's neck. "If they have finished with nine players it's because they had to stop us with fouls," Pique added in the Sport report.

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Per Goal, Pique also reacted to a poll from Spain's state-owned broadcaster TVE that asked fans for views of the referee's display, having previously taken votes on whether Barcelona had disrespected their opponents in the previous round, Hercules, by resting key men for the tie.

"A couple of questions from public-service television in less than a month," Pique posted (in Spanish). "Congratulations @EstadioTVE."

In the early stages of the match, the Basque outfit were the dominant force, with Aduriz and Inaki Williams netting before the half-hour mark to build a 2-0 lead. However, a 52nd-minute strike from Lionel Messi kept the tie in the balance, with the second leg to be played at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.

The decisions left plenty associated with Barcelona frustrated, especially, as Pique noted, when compared to the calls that went in favour of rivals Real Madrid on Wednesday evening.

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Los Blancos were awarded a penalty during the 3-0 win over Sevilla in the same competition when Luka Modric took a tumble in the area. After consulting replays, it was unclear whether the Croatian tangled with Sevilla man Mariano or his own team-mate, James Rodriguez.

Spanish football journalist Sergi Dominguez made his feelings clear on the two decisions:

Pique has spoken candidly about the issue of refereeing in Spain in the past. In March last year, when a Kevin Gameiro goal against Real Madrid was wrongly ruled out for offside, he posted "And now what?" on social media, per Sport.

In the past, the defender has taken things too far, though. In August 2015 he was sent off in a clash between Barcelona and Athletic in the Spanish Super Cup for bellowing "I s--t on your whore mother" at an assistant referee following a contentious offside decision that went against the Blaugrana.