Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has hit out at La Liga's officials on Twitter after Real Madrid were awarded a controversial penalty on Sunday night.

Los Blancos recovered from two goals down to claim a 3-2 win at Villarreal thanks in part to Cristiano Ronaldo's equaliser from the spot after Bruno Soriano was penalised for handball.

Victory ensured that Zinedine Zidane's charges remain top of the league, one point ahead of Barcelona with a game in hand, and Pique believes that contentious refereeing decisions have made Real eight points better off.

"Against the same teams. 8 points. Those clips are from the Madrid press, if you doubted," Pique posted on Twitter shortly after Real's win.

As well as the penalty award on Sunday, the reports in Pique's tweet refer to a disallowed Barcelona goal against Malaga, a Sergio Ramos strike which was given - also against Malaga - and a handball by Villarreal against Barcelona which the referee failed to spot.

Pique was the subject of two complaints from the Spanish referees' committee earlier in the season following incidents against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey and Villarreal in La Liga.