The officials got through a lot of work.
Barcelona’s defeat to Real Sociedad on Sunday night was packed full of incidents and the VAR audios of some of the biggest have now been released.
Hansi Flick’s side thought they had opened the scoring through Fermin Lopez but saw that goal ruled out for a foul by Dani Olmo in the build-up.
Referee Gil Manzano was advised to check the screen by VAR Carlos del Cerro Grande who said: “I recommend a review for a potential infraction.”
He’s then heard saying: “Everyone sit down, sit down. I’m going to tell you one thing, you have to let me work. You have to let VAR and me work. It’s impossible under these conditions.”
“Look. The change of possession occurs through this situation where the Barcelona player never touches the ball but instead kicks the Real Sociedad player. I’ll show you the replay so you can see.
Manzano replies: “My perception was that the Barcelona player was stealing the ball by touching it, but he never actually touches it; he kicks Kubo’s leg, so what he does is a foul. The ball is regained with a foul. I’m going to restart play with a dropped ball, okay?”
Barcelona then had goals by Frenkie de Jong and Lamine Yamal ruled out for offside. The VAR pictures showed just how tight the decision was to disallow Yamal’s goal.
The audios also show the decision to send off Carlos Soler for a foul on Pedri. The Real Sociedad man was initially shown a yellow card but it was then upgraded to red following a VAR review.
Manzano was advised: “I recommend a review for a potentially serious foul. Let me know when you’re on the screen. Look, I’m going to show you the point of contact and, above all, the twisting motion it creates in the Barcelona player, okay?”
The match referee then replies: “Phew, perfect. It puts the opponent’s physical integrity at risk, okay? Even if he goes down, the twisting of the ankle could injure him. I’m going to give him a red card for serious foul play.”
Soler was subsequently dismissed but the hosts still managed to hold on for all three points.
Category: General Sports
