BARCELONA president Joan Laporta will allegedly consider asking for El Clasico to be replayed after reviewing footage of Lamine Yamal‘s “ghost goal” against Real Madrid.
Xavi’s side suffered a 3-2 defeat to Los Blancos on Sunday, leaving their La Liga title hopes hanging by a thread.
Andreas Christensen broke the deadlock just six minutes into the match before Vinicius Junior equalised from the penalty spot.
Teen superstar Yamal then thought he’d fired Barcelona ahead, but his goal was not given after the referee claimed the ball had not fully crossed the line.
Xavi claimed it was an “injustice” and “unfair” that his team went on to lose.
He said: “We can’t control them. These are refereeing actions. I think the team is doing very well, we competed very well, we were better than Real on their own pitch and I think we deserved the three points in every way.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
“My feeling today is one of maximum injustice. Goes without saying, everyone saw it.
“My feeling is that today’s match was not fair.”
Barcelona chief Laporta has now called for the Technical Committee of Referees to publish the footage, images and audio from the incident.
He said: “As president of FC Barcelona, I want to convey the dissatisfaction caused by the fact that one day after one of the most important matches on the world calendar, the misuse of a tool such as VAR is setting our agenda.
Most read in Football
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
“As you know, I have never been a great defender of VAR because I believe that, as it is applied, it takes away spontaneity from football.
“But what I am in favour of is that, since we have it, it should always be used to avoid errors that could lead to unfair decisions.
“With this appearance that I am making, I not only want to reflect the discomfort of the Barcelona fans due to the poor management that was done yesterday of the VAR, but to emphasise that despite being a tool that has been around for some time continues to cause confusion and contradictory criteria depending on the parties and teams.
“As president of FC Barcelona, I also want to highlight the power of our competition and emphasise that we are a successful competition followed by millions of followers everywhere, but that does not mean we can remain untouched by criticism when the use of VAR undervalues our competition.”
He continued: “We understand the difficulty of the referee’s work but precisely for that reason there are tools (such as VAR) that should help have a fairer competition and not the other way around.
“Yesterday there were several debatable plays but among all of them there is one that is essential and that can lead to a change in the final result of the game. I am referring to the so-called Lamine ghost goal.
“As a club we want to be sure about what happened and that is why I inform you that from FC Barcelona we will immediately request the Technical Committee of Referees and the Spanish Football Federation to provide us with all the images and audios generated by the play.
“If, once this documentation has been analysed, the Club understands that an error occurred in the assessment of the play, we will implement all the appropriate actions to reverse the situation without, obviously, ruling out any necessary legal proceedings.
“If it is confirmed that it was a legal goal, we will go further and do not rule out asking for a replay of the match, just as has happened in a European match due to a VAR error.
“Finally, I want to emphasise that although we will focus on this play, we also disagree with various actions during the course of the match that, although they could be consulted in the VAR, this tool was ignored by the referee in an incomprehensible way.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
With the score at 2-2 in the final minutes of the match, Jude Bellingham popped up in the box to score a dramatic late winner for Real Madrid.
Los Blancos now sit 11 points clear at the top of the La Liga table.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
