Iturralde González unmoved, rejects Pavlidis claim after Benfica v Porto | OneFootball

Iturralde González once again shared his opinion, this time about the Clássico of the Liga Portugal Betclic. Analyzing the incidents that occurred in the match between Benfica and Porto, the Spaniard did not agree with Vangelis Pavlidis' complaints, who requested a penalty on two different occasions.

"This play is complicated, but in my opinion, there is no penalty. The goalkeeper arrives much earlier, deflects the ball with his fist, and the Benfica player does not attempt to contest it at any moment. The number 14 places himself in the goalkeeper's path to seek contact", began the former referee, in statements to the newspaper Record.

"The forward does not want to contest the ball; he wants to enter the goalkeeper's path to collide with him and try to make the referee consider that impact a penalty. For me, there is nothing. The referee did very well, in a very complicated play", added Iturralde González.

"The ball first hits the player's stomach and may then touch the hand, but the strike comes from the stomach. For me, it is not enough to call a penalty. If it went directly to the hands, then we could discuss whether it could be a penalty because of the position of the hands. But here, for me, it doesn't even hit the hand, but rather the stomach. For me, there is no penalty", explained the Spaniard, analyzing the play involving Fofana.

"There was nothing. There is a contest for the ball when the goalkeeper defends and the Benfica player, I believe, feels slight contact and lets himself fall. But there is nothing to justify calling a penalty. It is a football contact. There is no push, no foul, or excessive force in the action. There is nothing", concluded the same.

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