22, April 2024
Football: Barcelona wants Clasico replay if Yamal ‘ghost goal’ call wrong 0
Barcelona president Joan Laporta said Monday the club will demand a Clasico replay if they can prove officials made a mistake by not allowing Lamine Yamal’s “ghost goal”.
The champions fell to a 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday in a match which featured multiple controversial incidents, leaving their arch-rivals 11 points clear at the top of La Liga.
The most debated was 16-year-old winger Yamal’s first-half flick from a corner which may have crossed the line before Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin pushed it away.
Without goal-line technology in Spain, officials used VAR to try and confirm if the ball had crossed the line but could not be certain it had and so play continued with the score level at 1-1.
Laporta demanded the Spanish football federation and the refereeing committee send Barcelona all footage of the incident and audio recordings of the officials’ conversations.
“If, once the documentation has been analysed, the club understands that there was an error in the assessment of the play, as we think there was, we will take all the necessary steps to reverse the situation, without ruling out any legal action that may be necessary,” said Laporta in a video published by Barcelona.
“If it is confirmed that it was a legal goal, as we believe it was, we will go further and ask for a replay of the match, as has happened in another European match due to a VAR error.”
Laporta was referring to a match between Anderlecht and Genk in January in the Belgian top flight which was replayed following a misapplication of the laws of the game.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said Sunday it was a “disgrace” that Spanish football did not have goal-line technology.
Laporta also criticised a general “misuse” of VAR, saying there appeared to be “contradictory criteria” for its intervention depending on the teams involved.
Barcelona had two penalty appeals turned down during the Clasico defeat for what they said were fouls on Yamal and Fermin Lopez.
Source: AFP
25, April 2024
Football: Xavi to remain as Barcelona coach 0
Barcelona coach Xavi will remain at the club until at least the end of his contract in June 2025 after changing his mind that this would be his last season.
The 44-year-old announced in January he would step down as boss this summer.
But, with president Joan Laporta keen for him to remain, the former Barcelona and Spain midfielder has performed a U-turn.
Laporta said: “We know that he made some statements in the middle of the season, but today we have the good news that he is staying and he has conveyed to me the enthusiasm and confidence he has in the project.”
Xavi took charge in November 2021 after leaving Qatari club Al Sadd and guided Barca to the Spanish title in his first full season in charge in 2022-23.
However, they are 11 points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid with six games left to play in the current campaign.
Barcelona exited the Champions League last week following a quarter-final defeat by Paris St-Germain.
Xavi, who won 25 honours during an illustrious playing career at Barcelona, had said he felt “liberated” following the announcement that he would step down from the role at the end of the season.
When he announced he was leaving after defeat by Villarreal, he felt he was not being protected by the club and there was no clear direction.
But since that moment, when Xavi felt able to take a more relaxed approach, the team’s results improved.
They went 10 games unbeaten in the league before losing 3-2 at Real Madrid on Sunday.
A meeting took place in Laporta’s house on Wednesday and the pressure from the club for him to stay was obvious.
If Xavi is unable to improve the team by the end of the 2024-25 season, Barcelona will look to persuade one of the high-profile managers out of contract then – including Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Mikel Arteta.
Source: BBC