Referee takes centre stage as Barcelona face Atlético de Madrid | OneFootball

The match between Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid, part of the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, generated negative reactions due to the refereeing. The game ended 4-0 in favor of Atlético at the Metropolitano Stadium.

The main controversy surrounding the match was Pau Cubarsí's goal, six minutes into the second half, which was disallowed for offside as indicated by the VAR. According to the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), the semi-automatic offside system failed during the play. The VAR team proceeded with manually drawing the offside lines, and the image does not clearly show if the offside exists. The decision-making process in the booth took a lengthy six minutes.

“I saw the image later and you can clearly see there was no offside. In the image shown on television about the offside, you can't see the contact with the ball, and then you see the image where Fermín (López) shoots and the defender is a meter behind Robert (Lewandowski). I find it very strange,” said Frenkie de Jong, captain of Barcelona. “He (Martínez Munuera, the match referee) can't do much because he's also waiting. He doesn't have the image or the video. But the VAR does. The image I saw, if it's not artificial intelligence, which you can't even tell anymore. If that's the photo, it's a scandal because it's very clear,” concluded the player.

See also: All news from Gazeta Esportiva Gazeta Esportiva's YouTube Channel Follow Gazeta Esportiva on Instagram

The controversy continues

Adding to the controversy, the CTA decided not to share the audio from the moment the goal was disallowed. Additionally, it was not disclosed whether there was any discussion about Giuliano Simeone's firm tackle on Alejandro Baldé. Barcelona believes the play could have resulted in a red card for the Atlético player. The only audio released by the committee was related to Eric Garcia's expulsion for a tackle on Álex Baena.

“Pablo, I'm in front of the monitor, please show me. Show me at normal speed, please. It's true, the ball isn't going very far. Stop for me now, for a second, a little more. Let it go a little further. Ronald Araujo is very far. I'm going to change the card. Ronald Araujo is much further than I expected,” audio from Martínez Munuera, after changing the yellow card issued to a red one.

Barcelona is considering filing a formal complaint with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) about the refereeing, according to Mundo Deportivo. It is worth noting that the semi-automatic offside system will be implemented in Brazil.

Error in the match report

A new complaint arose after the final whistle. Martínez Munuera reported in the match report that Atlético de Madrid's third goal was scored by Giuliano Simeone. The actual scorer was Ademola Lookman, who received a pass from Julián Álvarez after a play by Simeone. Although it is a clear error, the situation can be corrected and does not affect the result.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.