Gerard Pique blasts Espanyol coach in X after he called Lamine Yamali a simulating player

Espanyol defender Leandro Cabrera was sent off in the 80th minute of the Espanyol-Barcelona match (0-2) for violently kicking Lamine Yamal in the stomach during a fight for the ball.

Lamine lay on the grass writhing in pain after being hit, forcing referee Soto Grado to call on the VAR monitor for a review.

However, Espanyol coach Manolo Gonzalez does not believe it was a red card. He even called Lamine 'a simulator'.

"We're destroying football," Gonzalez complained bitterly. "It's not strong enough to hurt or damage anyone. The logical thing would be for it to be a match. To fall like that, it would have to be done well."

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"We already know that they have treated the theatre well there, not just now, but for years. It is an avoidable act, but not one that deserves a sending off, a red card or a tackle. We will have to bring Biodramina to the match for his vertigo."

"I told (Lamines) that he was a simulator, nothing more, and that he needed to stop diving and provoking people," Gonzalez added.

This comment prompted a reaction from Barcelona legend Gerard Pique, who didn't even try to defend Barca. Pique simply suggested that the only team in Barcelona is FC Barcelona.

"Another side of the diagonal? I'm sorry, but it's been years since you left the city. Barcelona is Blaugrana. A big hug," Pique wrote on Twitter. /Telegraph/