Barcelona president Joan Laporta has blasted the standard of refereeing during Saturdayβs 1-1 draw with Getafe, describing the decision not to award a late penalty for his side as a βscandalβ.
Barca were incensed when match official Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes and VAR Francisco Jose Hernandez Maeso failed to award a spot-kick after Christantus Uche appeared to drag Jules Kounde to the floor with eight minutes to go.
France defender Kounde had earlier opened the scoring for Barca but Mauro Arambarriβs leveller meant Hansi Flickβs men were denied a crucial win.
Speaking this morning, Laporta did not hold back when asked for his assessment. He said: βThe refereeing in Getafe was a disgrace. Not calling that penalty on KoundΓ© is a scandal. A proper scandal.”
π₯ “El ARBITRAJE en GETAFE fue una VERGΓENZA”.
π₯ Brutal ‘RAJADA’ de LAPORTA por el penalti no pitado a KoundΓ©.
πΉ @marccnunezz pic.twitter.com/WC1qWHqDpC
β El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) January 20, 2025
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Madrid extend gap between Clasico rivals
Real Madridβs 4-1 win over Las Palmas yesterday means Barca are third in the Liga table, seven points behind the European champions and five adrift of Atletico Madrid.
Accusations of bias in Spain are not uncommon, particularly from Barcelona given Madridβs traditional role as capital and the base of power in the country.
After the game, Flick focused more on the title race and insisted there was still time for his team to catch up.
The German said: βWinning the league is the most difficult thing. But itβs not over yet, there are still some games to play. We will fight until the end. Today we got an extra point, but we dropped two points. However, we have to look forward and do better next time.β
Barca’s poor league run continues
Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final last weekend but have won just one of their last eight league games, their worst run in 17 years.
Flick added: βIβm not worried. Iβm aware of the situation, I know that weβve dropped a lot of points in the last games, thatβs not what we want, and we can do much better. But in the end, you can see that weβve started the season really well, in this new year, and Iβm happy about that.”