BARCELONA (Reuters) - Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has been ruled out of action after picking up a calf strain in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga, the club said in a statement on Sunday.

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.