'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Real Madrid faced Barcelona in their 32nd La Liga fixture of the season at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on April 21. The El Clasico ended in a 3-2 victory for the home side. However, one of the referee and VAR's decisions during the match was deemed controversial and received a lot of criticism.
In the 28th minute, Barcelona were on the attack as winger Raphinha provided a cross into the box. Lamine Yamal took a shot from it at the near post. It was n't very clear if the ball fully crossed the goal line before Lunin pushed it away.
Following Lunin's clearance, the referee initially ruled a corner. VAR checked the incident for quite some time, deciding that it wasn't a goal and asking to continue with the match. Many including fans, coaches, and pundits were not in favor of this decision and believed a goal-line technology should have been used for making this decision.
La Liga President Javier Tebas spoke about why the goal-line technology is not implemented in the league and said via Madrid Zone:
“It’s not a perfect technology, and that’s the first reason. But it’s not just that, over the course of a season, ghost goals occur three or four times, and if you add that it’s not perfect, the value is very high for the use it gets."
Maintaining his confidence in VAR for match decisions, the La Liga President added:
"If goal line technology was perfect, we would have already put it in. With the VAR, 99% of the plays can be solved."
Barcelona opened the scoring just six minutes into the match with Andreas Christensen's goal. Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior scored the equalizer with a penalty in the 18th minute after Lucas Vázquez was fouled in the box.
With the first half ending in a draw, the Catalans took the lead in the 69th minute with Fermín López's goal. Vázquez netted the equalizer in the 73rd minute followed by Jude Bellingham scoring the winning goal in the added time (90+1 minutes).
Xavi was disappointed with the refereeing in their last La Liga fixture
In the post-match conference, Xavi appeared to be satisfied with his players' gameplay in the Clasico. The Barcelona boss said:
"We were the best team tonight and we deserved to win. The future with those young talents will be bright for Barça."
However, the former Catalan midfielder expressed disappointment in the referee's decisions during the La Liga match, saying:
"I don't need to say anything about the referee, everyone has seen it already - if I speak they may sanction me, the images are there."
It was Barcelona's fourth consecutive defeat in El Clásico with Xavi as their manager. They last won against Real Madrid in March 2023.
Following this loss, Xavi became the second coach in the 122-year history of El Clásico to lose four consecutive times. The first one was Irishman Patrick O'Connell, who coached Barcelona from 1935 to 1940.
