VAR audio reveals details behind Fermin Lopez’s disallowed goal for Barcelona vs Real Sociedad | OneFootball

FC Barcelona came to the Reale Arena knowing they would face a Real Sociedad side enjoying a new-manager bounce, and they succumbed 2-1 on the night.

Barcelona actually flew out of the blocks, looking sharp and intense. Hansi Flick’s tactical set-up of using a box midfielder was working well, with both Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo heavily involved.

The Catalan club thought they had secured an early lead when Dani Olmo seemingly dispossessed Takefusa Kubo and Fermin Lopez finished expertly from outside the box, only for Gil Manzano to rule it out after an on-field review.

After the game, the RFEF released some of the VAR audio, and this was one of the incidents for which information was provided. According to SPORT, here is how it transpired.

Initially, the VAR advised Manzano to conduct an on-field review for a potential foul by a Barcelona player in the attacking passage of play. It went:

VAR then addressed the referee again, explaining why they thought it was a foul, but left it to his discretion. It went:

Gil Manzano went to the monitor, reviewed the situation, and here is what he had to say:

“Perfect, very good. That works for me. My perception was that the Barcelona player won the ball, but the Barcelona player never touches the ball; he hits Kubo’s leg, so that action is a foul. The recovery occurs with a foul. I’ll restart with a neutral ball, okay?”

While there is a case to be made that it was indeed a foul by Olmo on Kubo, one wonders where the same yardstick was when Olmo was fouled by a Real Sociedad player in the build-up to their first goal.

It was a very similar challenge to Olmo on Kubo, and on both occasions, the offender did not touch the ball. However, in one instance, VAR chose to intervene, and in the other, it did not, further raising doubts about the meritocracy of the system as a whole. Ultimately, it is three points lost for Hansi Flick and Barcelona.