Barca outraged by VAR decisions in a 4-0 thrashing from Atletico

When you lose this heavily — and FC Barcelona rarely loses 0–4 — the smartest thing is to shift the conversation to a less painful topic. That is exactly what Barca did: after the debacle against Atletico Madrid, they highlighted the refereeing decision to disallow Pau Cubarsí’s goal because of an offside involving the assisting Robert Lewandowski. At 0–4, it would not have changed anything — but that still does not alter the fact that the decision was truly scandalous.

That said, the main referee, Juan Martínez Munuera, was not the biggest culprit, as he waited more than six minutes for a decision from the VAR room led by Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes. Fuertes, however, could not rely on the SAOT system (semi-automated offside technology). Why? Because new technologies sometimes get confused when there are too many legs inside the penalty area. In the end, the lines were drawn manually — very poorly. The replay they used did not show exactly when the ball left Fermín Lopez’s foot. Cubarsí’s goal was disallowed even though it was clear that Lewandowski — who had flicked the ball moments earlier — was not offside. How did Frenkie de Jong see it?

“I watched everything afterward, and it’s clear there was no offside. You can see when Fermín struck the ball that the opposing defender was a meter behind Robert. Very strange. And the referee is waiting. He doesn’t have the image in front of him, but VAR does. And if what I saw isn’t AI (artificial intelligence, editor’s note), if this is a real photograph, then this is a scandal” the Barcelona midfielder stressed.

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Now, the fact that the shoreline meant it would not have made much difference even if the goal had stood does not change that something like this should not happen. It shows that technology — no matter how advanced — cannot solve every problem on its own, especially if we forget how to react when it is unavailable.

“This should have to be reported. The issue isn’t that they spent six minutes drawing the lines, but explain to me how, after all that time, we still get it wrong? This is a huge mistake — this cannot be offside” said former referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez.

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The refereeing commission admitted the SAOT system made a mistake. Too late. The anger is so great that Barcelona is considering filing a formal complaint with the Federation regarding Munuera's refereeing, as they feel severely wronged by his decisions. First and foremost, the complaints will focus on the disallowed goal, which was reviewed at length in the VAR room and secondly, on his decision to give Eric Garcia a red card, again after a VAR check.

LA LIGA - MATCHDAY 24

Friday

23.00: (3.00) Elche (3.20) Osasuna (2.60)

Saturday

16.00: (2.55) Espanyol (3.15) Celta (2.95)

18.15: (3.30) Getafe (3.10) Villareal (2.35)

20.30: (2.20) Sevilla (3.25) Alaves (3.80)

23.00: (1.38) Real Madrid (5.30) Sociedad (7.50)

Sunday

16.00: (3.80) Oviedo (3.25) Ath.Bilbao (2.20)

18.15: (4.50) Rayo Vallecano (3.75) Atl.Madrid (1.85)

20.30: (2.80) Levante (3.15) Valencia (2.65)

23.00: (2.85) Mallorca (3.30) Betis (2.50)

Monday

23.00: (7.00) Girona (5.50) Barcelona (1.38)

***odds are subject to change***