BARCELONA, Aug 22 — Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has been ruled out of action after picking up a calf strain in yesterday’s 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga, the club said in a statement today.

Pique, who scored in Barca’s 4-2 win over Real Sociedad the previous week after agreeing to take a pay cut to alleviate the club’s financial problems and ensure they could register new signings Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia, was taken off in the first half against Athletic.

The 34-year-old’s injury leaves Barca without their two first-choice centrebacks for next week’s home game against Getafe as Garcia was shown a straight red card in added time against Athletic.

Barca’s statement did not give any indication when Pique would return, stating that he would continue to be assessed. — Reuters