Madrid made a blistering start, racing to a two-goal advantage within 14 minutes as Kylian Mbappe struck twice, silencing the Estadi de Montjuïc crowd. ..Continue Reading
However, Hansi Flick’s side responded with resilience, pulling one back through Eric Garcia in the 19th minute before Lamine Yamal unleashed a superb curled finish to level the score in the 32nd minute.
Just two minutes later, Raphinha fired Barcelona ahead, and the Brazilian doubled his tally right before halftime to put his team in command.
Mbappe reignited Madrid’s hopes with a goal in the 70th minute, completing his hat-trick, but Barca remained firm and believed they had secured a fifth goal through Fermin Lopez—only for it to be disallowed for handball.
Referee Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez was advised to check the pitch-side monitor by Juan Martínez Munuera in the Video Operations Room, according to *Mundo Deportivo*.
Controversy soon followed due to a remark picked up on the audio, adding further frustration to an already heated encounter.
In the audio released by RFEF, Martínez Munuera said: “Listen to me, Alex, we’ve just detected a handball, okay? Please come take a look.”
An ‘unknown voice’ added: “Given the height—thank goodness. Yes, yes, totally.”
To which Hernández Hernández replied: “Okay, perfect. Let’s continue. It hits his hand, yes. The ball’s going out. Now give me a wide angle so I can see the entire action and how it ends. Okay, perfect. The hand is clearly raised. I’m going to disallow the goal.”
But, MD reports that the “thank goodness” part was edited out of the video posted by the RFEF on social media.
Fans were quick to have their say on social media.
One said: “I’m beginning to lose trust in the VAR system in Spain. What a disgrace… how can you not accept a penalty, then disallow a goal with the same incident?”
Another added: “You have to explain to me how a goal can be disallowed for a handball prior to Valverde’s control, which Gavi later recovered and then scored. If instead of one play and one possession, it had been five, would it also be disallowed because it was a handball a while ago?”
While a third explained: ” ‘Thank goodness’ a disgrace.”
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