Gerard Pique Reportedly Shouts at Javier Tebas After Villarreal-Barcelona Draw

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique appeared to heckle La Liga President Javier Tebas following his side's 1-1 draw with Villarreal on Sunday, during which the Blaugrana saw a penalty appeal controversially waved away in the second period.

Lionel Messi's stunning late free-kick rescued a point for Barcelona at the Estadio de la Ceramica after Nicola Sansone gave Villarreal the lead. However, the most striking moment of the game came when Villarreal skipper Bruno blatantly blocked the Argentina international's second-half shot with his hand, and the referee opted not to award a penalty.

As we can see here courtesy of La casa del futbol, Pique was far from happy at the final whistle and was seen shouting towards the directors' box: 

"Did you see that?" the Spain international is supposed to have said in the direction of Tebas, who was a guest of Villarreal for the game, per Pete Jenson of MailOnline. "Yes, you, you!"

As noted by Sid Lowe of the Guardian, Bruno seemed to choose his words carefully in his post-match interview:

It's the second time in less than a week that Pique has expressed his disgust at refereeing decisions.

Following the team's 2-1 loss to Athletic Club Bilbao in the Copa del Rey on Thursday, the Barca man was adamant his side should have had a penalty and made reference to Real Madrid's clash with Sevilla the previous evening when they were awarded a controversial spot-kick.

"We want to play football and not roulette, which is what these decisions are creating," he told Gol T (via Sport, h/t Evan Bartlett of the Independent).

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At the moment, things don't seem to be going right for the Blaugrana. The decision not to award a penalty against Villarreal represented a remarkable lapse in judgement from the match official, although the hosts also had a strong appeal turned down not long after.

Indeed, while Barcelona can bemoan poor officiating, they were not at their best during the clash with Villarreal and now sit five points behind league leaders Real Madrid having played a game more.

Bleacher Report's Karl Matchett was not impressed with their display:

Pique is a key figure in the Barcelona dressing room, and he evidently feels as though there is some sort of bias against his side. It would be no surprise if that sense of injustice seeped into the rest of the squad as a result; that's something that could inhibit the side further or galvanise the players into action.

Given the decisions that have gone against his side since the domestic schedule resumed in 2017, frustration is understandable. But the bald facts are that Barcelona face a huge uphill task to retain their Liga title this season, and regardless of the controversial refereeing, it's imperative standards are lifted if they are to get back in the title race.