The match between Real Sociedad and Barcelona ended with a narrow 0-1 defeat for Barça. Despite the defeat, however, the match was overshadowed by controversy, particularly surrounding a disallowed goal by Robert Lewandowski in the first half.
At that point, the score was still 0-0, and the VAR review led to the decision to rule out Lewandowski’s goal for an offside.
The offside decision was extremely tight, and the semi-automatic offside technology used during the review did not provide a clear explanation.
In fact, the footage seemed to confuse the foot of the Real Sociedad defender with Lewandowski’s, leading to a lot of confusion and frustration among Barça players and fans alike.
The incident quickly sparked widespread discussion, especially in the Barcelona camp, where tensions were high.
Referee’s response to Flick’s confrontation
During the half-time break, just before the teams returned to the pitch for the second half, manager Hansi Flick was seen engaged in a tense conversation with referee Cuadra Fernandez.
It was clear that Flick was asking for an explanation regarding the controversial offside call, showing his frustration with the decision. While Flick took responsibility for his team’s defeat, he made it clear that he disagreed with the referee’s ruling on the goal.
After the final whistle, the Spanish broadcaster Movistar+ shared the details of the conversation between Flick and the referee.
The referee defended the decision, telling Flick that the VAR review had confirmed the offside, and he saw no reason to dispute it. The referee explained,
“You say it’s not offside. What can I do? For you, it’s nothing because it’s against your team. If the VAR says, it’s offside. Why would we make it up? Listen to me, why would we make up an offside,” he said.
Speaking after the match, Flick was indeed dissatisfied but he ultimately took responsibility of the defeat that has now reduced the gap between his side and Real Madrid to six points with the latter having a match in hand.
