Barcelona locker room outraged over Lamine Yamal’s disallowed goal vs Real Sociedad | OneFootball

FC Barcelona returned from San Sebastian with a feeling of frustration and annoyance as they lost a game (2-1) that they had thoroughly dominated.

Disallowed goals, shots against the woodwork, refereeing decisions, VAR controversy, a lack of clinical finishing and the performance of Alex Remiro in the La Real goal all contributed to the end of an 11-match winning run for Hansi Flick & co.

Anger over Lamine Yamal’s disallowed goal

Multiple Barcelona players and manager Flick himself let out their frustrations over the refereeing decisions after the game, directly to the press or on social media.

But, according to Mundo Deportivo, the feeling of discontent was even stronger in private in the locker room.

The report states that there was a mixture of frustration, anger, irritation and resignation inside the Barcelona dressing room at Anoeta.

The incident that angered the players the most was the image of Lamine Yamal generated by the semi-automated offside system shown during the broadcast.

Photo courtesy: Instagram/Fermin Lopez

The 18-year-old wonderkid had put the ball into the back of the net close to the half-hour mark to hand Barça the lead, only for VAR Carlos del Cerro Grande to chalk it off for offside by the barest of margins.

The incident was eerily similar to what had already happened with Robert Lewandowski in November 2024, at the same stadium, with the same VAR official, when a goal was disallowed due to a matter of millimetres.

According to dressing-room sources, there can be debate over other decisions, for or against, but this particular call was seen as especially clear-cut. Flick demanded explanations from the referee after seeing the image in the dressing room.

The Referees’ Technical Committee (CTA) maintains that the offside decision was correct, arguing that ten additional cameras confirm it, although the club have previously stated that a more detailed explanation of how the system works would be welcome.