FC Barcelona fans and pundits that cover the club have been left furious by an audio recording from … More
FC Barcelona fans and pundits that cover the club have been left furious by an audio recording from the VAR room made during Sunday’s 4-3 win over bitter rival Real Madrid in El Clasico.
The Catalans went into the latest addition of the world’s biggest derby crestfallen after Tuesday’s painful Champions League semifinal second leg exit to Inter Milan.
Once more, Hansi Flick’s young side went 2-0 down early, but managed to come back to lead the tie for the first time 3-2 ahead of goals in the 93rd and 99th minute, the latter in extra time, sinking hopes of an impressive quadruple trophy haul.
Barca had little time to dust itself off and prepare for a fourth showdown with its arch nemesis in Montjuic at the weekend.
There were doubts leading up to kick off as to whether Barca would be emotionally drained and also lacking physically after a gruelling 120 minutes of play at the San Siro.
True to form, they one again allowed a powerful opposition to go 2-0 goals clear with a brace from Kylian Mbappe on this occasion.
Thankfully for Culers, Barca roared back to overturn that deficit and lead 4-2 come half time. Because Madrid only managed to pull another goal back, the home team ran out winners and now cushions a seven-point advantage at the La Liga summit with three games left to run in 2024/2025.
As is often the case, however, the latest of four clashes between the Spanish football behemoths wasn’t allowed to pass without incident.
Lamine Yamal appeared to have been fouled by Dani Ceballos on the move that resulted in the second of Mbappe’s three goals but nothing was called, and Barca also didn’t get awarded a penalty when it appeared Aurelien Tchouameni had handled the ball.
“There you have the images, it’s a shot on goal. We don’t have many more powerful cameras,” said VAR referee Juan Martinez Munuera, as explained by sport.es/es/noticias/barca/audio-var-mano-tchouameni-brazo-117282391″>SPORT .
As shown by audio recordings, referee Hernandez Hernandez made a decision and then commented: “For me [Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut] Courtois is behind. Give it one more frame, that’s where the impact occurs, [with] the arm down. For me it’s not a penalty, Juan.”
Yet it is a remark in relation to a third incident that has Culers and pundits that cover the club in a huff.
Fermin Lopez handled the ball on his way to smash home what could have been a fifth goal for the Blaugrana across the afternoon, and the player himself later admitted that he had done so.
Yet it is the fact that Munuera used the Spanish expression “menos mal”, translated as something close to “thank goodness” in English, to describe the development that has upset many.
“Listen to me Alex, we just detected a hand, okay? Come and see it, please”, you can hear in an audio recording from the VAR room, before the addition of “thank goodness. Yes, yes, absolutely”.
FC Barcelona “should demand an explanation”
In a week that Barca and figures including president Joan Laporta returned from Milan complaining that bad refereeing had cost them the chance to reach the UCL final for the first time since 2015, at least their rage will not be as seething given they came out on the winning side this time round.
According to SPORT journalist Toni Juanmarti, however, FC Barcelona should still “demand an explanation” from Spanish soccer officials as to why the remark was made.