It’s not normal for the referee not to see anything and VAR to call off the goal because of a guy with a telescope, complains Bilbao coach

Athletic Club lost 0:1 to Barcelona at home. But there is a big aftertaste, because the team from Bilbao equalised in the 87th minute, the referee conceded the goal, but VAR subsequently found a foul that happened 10 seconds before the goal. And that upset coach Ernesto Valverde.

Athletic are quite good at Barcelona at home. Of the last 5 games at San Mamés, Athletic have won twice, drawn once and Barcelona have won twice.

The traditionally amazing atmosphere was still accompanied by protests against Barcelona, which is accused of bribing referees.

And the home side started strongly and could have taken the lead, only for Raúl García to hit only the crossbar of ter Stegen’s goal after a corner kick. Barcelona scored just before half-time, however, when Raphinha got on the scoresheet.

Even in the second half, Athletic raced for an equaliser, which did come. In the 87th minute, Iñaki Williams received a pass behind the defense, used his speed and raced in alone on ter Stegen.

He made it all the way to the whitewash, where he shot past the Barcelona goalkeeper and the whole stadium erupted in ecstasy. None of the Barcelona players thought of protesting, even the referees had no idea that there had been a foul.

However, after a rigorous and several minutes-long examination at VAR, the video referees found Iker Muniaín’s hand in the build-up play, seconds before Iñaki’s goal.

And that didn’t please the home players, fans or coach at all. The home team’s coach, Ernesto Valverde, was very upset.

“I don’t get it, football doesn’t make sense in this situation. It‘s not normal that nobody on the pitch protests, nobody sees anything, the referee and assistants have no idea and then the goal is called back because of a guy who examines all situations with a telescope,” Valverde complained.

The goal scorer Iñaki reacted to the disallowed goal in his own way. “Hahahahahahahahaha,” he tweeted after the match.

Source: La Liga, Twitter