In the match of the 18th round of La Liga, there was a hit clash between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Before this match, both teams were in first and second place in the table, respectively, and had 38 points each, even though Diego Simeone's team had played one match less.
Should there have been a penalty for FC Barcelona against Atletico Madrid?
FC Barcelona started to put pressure on Atletico Madrid's players from the very beginning in front of their home crowd, so the match progressed in such a way that the hosts attacked and the guests defended and looked for opportunities in the few counterattacks.
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However, despite this, Hansi Flick's players failed to carry out an action that would have threatened Jan Oblak's goal. Until the 20th minute of the match, Raphinha sent the ball into the penalty area, and then the ball hit Giuliano Simeone's left hand. Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea did not award a penalty kick, and the VAR system did not recognize that it was a clear situation and did not call the referee to the monitor, despite the protests of FC Barcelona players.
“VAR in Spain probably sits in Studio Yayo,” said Marcin Jaz from Sport.pl.
Filip Modrzejewski from our editorial office presented a slightly different opinion. “The regulations would be absurd to award a penalty kick for something like that,” he said.
“There is no penalty because we don't play in white,” said Wojciech Kowalczyk, referring to Real Madrid, which in his opinion would have received a penalty kick in this situation.
“A penalty like nothing, what was that clown calling there?” – Łukasz Ciona asked bluntly.
Ultimately, FC Barcelona achieved its goal and in the 30th minute scored a goal to make it 1-0 after Pedri's goal. Atletico Madrid equalized in the 60th minute thanks to a goal by Rodrigo de Paul.