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23rd Feb 2016

VIDEO: Did Luis Enrique instruct Gerard Pique to get booked against Arsenal?

Nooruddean Choudry

This is certainly an interesting one.

During their post-match summing up on BT Sport, Gary Lineker, Rio Ferdinand, Ronald Koeman and Ian Wright noticed something dodgy in the game-time footage of Arsenal vs Barcelona.

In the 84th minute, shortly after Barca had scored their second goal in a 2-0 victory, their manager Luis Enrique was seen calling Gerard Pique over for a quick word.

FBL-EUR-C1-ARSENAL-BARCELONA : News Photo

As soon as play resumed and an Arsenal player was within touching distance – which happened to be Danny Welbeck – the usually serene and in control Pique needlessly scythed the forward down.

The result was a clear booking, which means that the defender is suspended for the second leg. With a two goal cushion and home advantage to come, was Enrique already planning for the next round?

The lads in the studio certainly thought so…