Barcelona centre back Gerard Pique has been banned for four matches after he was sent off for insulting a linesman in Monday’s Spanish Super Cup second leg against Athletic Bilbao. Barca can appeal and may get the sanction reduced, but if that fails the Spain international will miss the the club’s opening four La Liga matches, including Sunday’s trip to play Bilbao and the game at Atletico Madrid on 12 September. Pique apologised for his dismissal via his Twitter account on Tuesday, but denied using insulting language.