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Gerard Pique Ends Playing Career By Leading Barcelona To La Liga Summit

Gerard Pique ended his illustrious career on a satisfactory note by captaining Barcelona to a 2-0 win over Almeria. Pique refused the chance to take a penalty.

Robert Summerscales

Gerard Pique Ends Playing Career By Leading Barcelona To La Liga Summit
Gerard Pique Ends Playing Career By Leading Barcelona To La Liga Summit /

Gerard Pique ended his illustrious career on a satisfactory note by captaining Barcelona to a 2-0 win over Almeria on Saturday.

Pique played 85 minutes at the Camp Nou and was rarely troubled by Almeria's attackers.

Barcelona's victory saw them go top of La Liga.

Real Madrid will return to first place if they win at Rayo Vallecano on Monday but Saturday night belonged to Pique.

SEE ALSO: Why Is Gerard Pique Retiring?

Gerard Pique pictured waving to Barcelona fans after being subbed off in the final game of his playing career
Gerard Pique pictured waving to Barcelona fans after being subbed off in the final game of his playing career :: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire/Gerard Franco

Pique's announcement earlier in the week that he would be retiring mid-season came as a surprise to many fans.

Those fans came out in force to say farewell to a club legend.

Pique was cheered pretty much every time he touched the ball. He had 79 touches, completed 61 passes, two tackles and three clearances.

The only thing missing was a goal.

But Pique turned down a golden opportunity to score after Barca were awarded a penalty kick for a Kaiky Melo handball on five minutes.

Spot-kick specialist Robert Lewandowski offered the ball to Pique but the skipper refused.

In hindsight, Pique probably would have fared better than Lewandowski, who stunned the Camp Nou by dragging his shot wide.

But Barca did make the breakthrough shortly after half-time thanks to Ousmane Dembele's third goal in his last five home games.

Frenkie De Jong scored Barca's second.

Pique returned to the field for one last time after the final whistle, joined by his two sons.

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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.

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