Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has been handed a four-match ban for his red card against Athletic Bilbao in Monday’s clash between the two sides.

Pique was shown a red card for verbally abusing the linesman in the second half of the game against Athletic Bilbao in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup clash that ended with a 5-1 aggregate victory for the Basque side.




The Spain international was likely to receive a suspension of between two to 12 games for his infraction.

The four-match suspension will see him miss Barcelona’s first four league games. The list of games includes Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames, Malaga at the Camp Nou, Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon and another home game against Levante.
 


In the defender's absence, Blaugrana manager Luis Enrique will likely choose between Javier Mascherano, Marc Bartra, Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen for his centre-back pairing.

relatedNewsStory

Pique is a product of the Barcelona youth academy and has gone on to become one of the first team regulars at the club.

Barcelona will begin their title defence with a visit to the San Mames this Sunday.