Barcelona’s 0-4 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals was painful enough, but in the dressing room, the frustration didn’t just come from the score.
Much of the anger was directed at Paul Kubas’ goal being disallowed, a decision that shocked several players.
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The goal was disallowed after a lengthy VAR review lasting more than six minutes.
Referee Juan Martinez Munuela awaited confirmation from VAR official Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes, who was forced to rely on the manual offside line as the semi-automatic offside system was unavailable.
This decision has become one of the main talking points after the game, especially among Barcelona players.
Frenkie de Jong’s breakout
Midfielder Frenkie de Jong was one of the most outspoken figures, openly expressing his doubts in an interview with international media in the mixed zone.
After viewing the images himself, the Dutch midfielder made it clear that he disagreed with the final decision.
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“I looked at the images afterwards and you can clearly see there was no offside.
“In the offside image shown on TV you don’t see the contact with the ball and then you see the image of Fermin shooting with the defender a meter behind Robert.
"I thought that was weird," De Jong was quoted as saying by Mundo Deportivo.
The Barcelona midfielder also pointed out that the referee on the field did not take full responsibility for the situation.
Instead, he believes the real issue lies with the VAR process and the images used.
“he [the match official] Can’t do much because he’s waiting too.
“He didn’t have the image or the video. But VAR did. The image I saw, if it wasn’t for the artificial intelligence, you couldn’t tell.
“If this was a photo, it would be a scandal because it’s so clear,” added the visibly frustrated midfielder.