A little return to earth for FC Barcelona, Sunday evening. On the pitch at Anoeta, a stadium where the Catalans always struggle, Hansi Flick’s troops lost 1-0, putting an end to a superb series of victories. A defeat in Basque lands marked by controversy, with a goal canceled for Robert Lewandowski shortly before the quarter of an hour of play. The Pole was indeed in an offside situation…
Except that the VAR drew the offside line from the foot of… Nayef Aguerd, defender of Real Sociedad, and not Robert Lewandowski. It was therefore the foot of the Moroccan defender which was taken into account, and not that of the Pole. A big error in the technology which automatically detects offside positions, and which logically provokes strong reactions.
The Catalans have it bad
“La Liga should review the images. It would be serious if a valid goal was canceled”launched Marc Casado. “If there was such an obvious and serious error, there needs to be an investigation”for his part launched goalkeeper Iñaki Peña. Although usually very calm, Hansi Flick was also very angry. At the break, the German went to see referee Guillermo Cuadra Fernández to ask for an explanation. Spanish TV cameras were able to film the referee’s response: “for you it’s not offside because it’s against your team… If the VAR says it’s offside, why would we invent offside? ».
Xavier Estrada Fernández, former La Liga referee, nevertheless agreed with Barça on the set of Esports3 : “It’s inexplicable, unprecedented. The president of Barça must complain, this is the day to defend the interests of the club and the integrity of the competition”. Raphinha took this in a humorous tone, publishing a photo of Lewandowski’s action on the offside, with another photo of particularly long shoes. Suffice to say that the subject will continue to be talked about over the next few hours in Barcelona…
