Joan Laporta, the president of Barcelona, does not rule out the possibility of replaying the scandalous El Clásico.
Real Madrid secured a 3-2 victory over Barcelona at home in the 32nd round of the Spanish league on Sunday evening. With this win, the Madrid team made a significant move towards the league title, extending their lead to 11 points over their arch-rival Barcelona with six rounds left in the season.
However, the match didn’t end with the final whistle. Since the introduction of VAR, it has become increasingly common to hear demands for matches to be replayed following controversial VAR decisions. Such calls were made following the nearly scandalous El Clásico.
What happened?
Barcelona’s management, coaching staff, and players were unanimously outraged because referee Cesar Soto Grado did not award a goal after Lamine Yamal’s shot in the 28th minute.
According to Soto Grado, the ball did not fully cross the goal line, and Real Madrid’s goalkeeper, Andriy Lunin, managed to save it just in time.
It’s worth noting that, uniquely among European top leagues, the Spanish league does not use goal-line technology, making it extremely difficult for the refereeing team to make the decision.
Barcelona’s goalkeeper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and coach, Xavi Hernandez, also criticized the “embarrassing” lack of goal-line technology after the 3-2 loss.
Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta, did not remain silent about the incident either:
“We have asked the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to hand over all video and audio material related to the incident. If it turns out that a legitimate goal was not awarded to us, I do not rule out requesting a replay, as there have been precedents in Europe. We will do whatever it takes to find out the truth,” he concluded in a video uploaded to the club’s social media.
In his brief message, the president of Barcelona claims that there has been a precedent where a match was replayed due to a faulty VAR decision.
The Catalan leader is likely referring to the December 2023 Anderlecht–Genk match in Belgium, which should have been replayed due to a goal not awarded by the video referee after the local federation (RBFA) accepted Genk’s appeal.
However, the Belgian Sports Arbitration Court (BAS) later annulled this decision, so the precedent mentioned by the Catalan president technically no longer exists.
Whatever the outcome of the case, it would be a big surprise if the match were to be replayed in light of this.
