"Barcelona" club returned from San Sebastiano to the capital of Catalonia on Saturday not in the best of moods.
In yesterday's match, "Barcelona" ended in a 2:2 draw with "Real Sociedad." Such a stumbling could be costly for "Barca," as on the eve of "El Clasico" Madrid's "Real" club could jump into the leader position.
After the match in San Sebastiano, representatives of "Barcelona" mostly spoke not about the team's performance, but about the work of the referees.
A lot of discussions were sparked by an incident that happened in added time with Gerard Pique, when he, grappling with Diego Llorente in the penalty area, fell to the ground and demanded a penalty kick. In the first half, the home team received a penalty kick for a similar episode.
Such demands were not met by either the game referee or the VAR team. It was precisely after this episode that passions arose both in the Catalan media and in the "Barcelona" camp.
It is reported that "Barcelona" president Josep Bartomeu immediately after the match contacted the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, to explain the work of the referees and VAR.
One of the team's captains, Sergio Busquets, strongly responded to the episode: "There is no escape from controversy with VAR. There was a wrestling match in the "Real Sociedad" penalty area. I caught the opponent, but my penalty kick was not as obvious as in Pique's case.
The referee had to take this into account and consult with the VAR team. This is exactly why this system was introduced. It is difficult to explain why they acted like this, as we were not given any explanation."
Another team defender, Frenkie de Jong, shared a similar opinion: "If you award such a penalty to the "Real Sociedad" team, then you have to do the same on the other side of the field (against Pique - ed.)."
