PIQUE OUTBURST NOT MALICIOUS - RAKITIC

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Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has defended team-mate Gerard Pique in the wake of his outburst toward the assistant referee in his side's 1-1 Supercopa de Espana draw with Athletic Bilbao on Monday.

The Spain international was sent off after losing his cool with the official 56 minutes into Barca's attempt at turning around a 4-0 first-leg, with the referee describing in his official report that Pique shouted "I s*** on your w**** mother" at the linesman.

Pique and Barcelona have since denied the defender used those exact words and Rakitic has now stressed the 28-year-old had no intention of insulting anyone either way.

"Pique didn't mean what he said maliciously. All of us were very nervous and it was said in the heat of the moment," Rakitic was quoted as saying by AS.

"He didn't head towards the linesman on purpose. If you bear that in mind, in every game there will be seven or eight players always sent off.

"We're worried because Gerard is a very important player for us. But a sending-off like that, I don't know.

"Anyway, we have to learn from it and hope he doesn't get suspended for a lot of games because he's important to the team. We're going to stick together and be strong. And when Gerard returns, we'll be able to go flat out again."

Pique could be banned for between four and 12 games for the incident.