Gerard Pique can consider himself a very lucky man indeed after staying on the pitch despite a two-footed horror tackle against Morocco.
The Barcelona star had struggled alongside Sergio Ramos as the only Spain resistance faced with stemming a swift Moroccan attack.
And perhaps his frustrations got the better of him early on as he crunched Khalid Boutaib with a full-blooded challenge.
Boutaib luckily avoided injury after the hit, and indeed went on to open the scoring for his nation before Isco pulled Spain back into the proceedings.
Pique, meanwhile, did not even receive a yellow card for his tackle - provoking that all-too familiar refrain this World Cup: where was the VAR?
blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="es">As if this two-footed challenge from Gerard Piqué didn't even go to VAR. Absolute madness. #WorldCup #ESP #MAR #ESPMAR pic.twitter.com/N4hGFwWG0a
— 🌎🏆 Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) 25 de junio de 2018🥋 Another look at Gerard Pique's early tackle in this game...
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) 25 de junio de 2018
(📹 De Kelderklasse)#ESPMAR pic.twitter.com/7msplg8LAn
Is VAR not looking at that Pique challenge? Red card, surely?
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) 25 de junio de 2018
That is a poor way for Pique to go into a challenge. What’s he at?
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) 25 de junio de 2018
Given that the ref didn’t give a foul for that tackle by Pique, can he still be punished retrospectively?
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) 25 de junio de 2018
That has to be a red card on Piqué. Off the ground, studs up.
— Jonas Giæver (@CheGiaevara) 25 de junio de 2018
How Pique got away with that. Amazing. Two footed, studs showing. Fair to say standard of refereeing has been mixed at the #WorldCup
— tariq panja (@tariqpanja) 25 de junio de 2018
