Barcelona's 'legal and moral duty' to appeal Mascherano red
Barcelona will appeal against the red card shown to Javier Mascherano in Sunday's victory over Eibar.
The defensive midfielder was shown a red card in the 83rd minute of Barca's 3-1 win and could be handed a four-match ban.
According to referee Carlos del Cerro Grande, Mascherano was sent off for insulting an assistant referee with an Argentinian expression.
Barca vice-president Jordi Mestre told the club's official website: "We have not received the official sanction, but we have asked the player what happened and he says that it was no more than an act of frustration and that he never had any intention of insulting anyone.
"It is our legal and moral duty to present an appeal in order to defend the player."
Blaugrana boss Luis Enrique felt the red card was harsh, telling Marca: "It would be very serious to lose Mascherano for four games.
"He said a typical Argentinian expression. You have to judge whether he said that to the officials or just to the air, or to whom he was looking at when he said it.
"This is a good example of referees punishing complaints more than they do tough tackles.
"Mascherano didn't talk to the referee, he said something normal in a football match."
This was Mascherano's first dismissal of the season and his fourth in 147 La Liga games for Barca.
The former West Ham and Liverpool player, who has made eight league starts for Barca this term, could miss his team's next four La Liga games, including the first El Clasico of the campaign, against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on November 21.
Barca visit Getafe on Saturday and are second in La Liga, level on 21 points with leaders Real.
