Barcelona won the classic against Real Madrid 2-1 this Sunday, but the result was not without controversy since with less than minutes to go, and the score was still tied, an arbitration decision marked a before and after in the meeting.
The duel was 1-1 when the white team put together a great offensive play that ended with Dani Carvajal with the ball dominated in the rival area. The Spaniard settled in to filter a perfect pass to Marco Asensio, who defined first and with a low but cornered shot he beat Ter Stegen to put his team ahead.
The clock marked 82 minutes when referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea was informed by the VAR booth that the action was being reviewed for a possible offside by Asensio. Given this, the surprise came to the Camp Nou that seconds later received confirmation that the Real Madrid footballer was indeed ahead and therefore the goal was disallowed.
In the repetition, the television broadcast showed the image on which the VAR booth leaned to cancel the goal and this generated controversy. It is that according to the lines of technology, the shoulder of the Real Madrid footballer would be centimeters ahead of the shoulder line of Jules Koundé, Barcelona defender. Something that is not too clear.
“We will have to believe that it was offside,” wrote Juan Ignacio García-Ochoa, deputy editor of the prestigious sports newspaper Marca, referring to this arbitration decision. Who in his article recalled that this happens after the explosion of the Negreira Case that has Spanish football in suspense after it became known that the Catalan club paid millions of euros, for years, to one of the highest heads of arbitration in that country for reasons that are still being investigated by ordinary Justice and by the Federation.
The truth is that this offside was key because five minutes later Kessie scored for Barcelona and sealed the final 2-1 at the Camp Nou that allowed Xavi Hernández’s team to reach 68 points in La Liga, taking him 12 ahead Real Madrid and heading to the title. There are still 11 games left in La Liga, but the culé cast is marching steadily towards the championship.