Barcelona have struggled badly this season. If one didn’t know better, they wouldn’t believe this same team won the La Liga title last season, beating Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the domestic league. With Lewandowski and Raphinha on fire, the Catalan giants were almost unstoppable last season, with Xavi taking the credit for transforming the team.
Sadly, the same can’t be said about them this season. They’ve struggled so much that Xavi has decided to step down from his role at the end of the season. Thankfully, he helped them book a spot in the quarterfinals of the UCL yesterday after beating Napoli in another controversial win that annoyed football fans about the use of VAR in the game.
Ex-La Liga ref talks on controversial Victor Osimhen penalty claim
The controversy came in the 55th minute when PSG target Victor Osimhen fell under a heavy challenge from a Barcelona defender, with many hoping the away side would be given a penalty, which would have changed the potential outcome of the tie.
However, the penalty was denied, and an ex-La Liga referee weighed in on the matter after the game. “Cubarsi’s tackle on Osimhen could perhaps be called a penalty kick, but not in the Champions League. That’s what I like about the competition; I hope we can learn that in Spain,” Mateu Lahoz said.
Barcelona went into the tie yesterday knowing that nothing less than a win would mean a possible extra time and perhaps a penalty shootout at the very least. Xavi’s men had played out a 1-1 draw in Italy, with Napoli getting back in the game very late through their superstar striker Victor Osimhen, who also made the headlines in yesterday’s tie as many thought a penalty decision went against them.
Without a doubt, Barcelona controlled the game in the first half and were deservedly ahead with a 2-1 scoreline. Lopez and Cancelo scored in the space of two minutes to hand Barcelona that much-needed break in the tie. However, the pressure was back on them when Napoli’s defender Rrahmani pulled one back in the 30th minute to put the tie level on aggregate.
Barcelona scored a late goal through Robert Lewandowski to completely put the game to bed, guaranteeing them a spot in the quarterfinals.
Fans accuse UEFA of favoring Barcelona
Barcelona have always been accused of gaining favors from UEFA in the past few decades, which was on display yesterday, as the penalty incident opened up old accusations against the Catalan club. Fans took to social media to express their displeasure over the penalty incident, claiming that without UEFA’s help, Barcelona may not have made it through the round.
“UEFAlona strikes again,” one fan said. “VAR is favoring Barca,” another user boldly claimed. Controversies continue to surround the use of VAR in global football. Barcelona’s Xavi and Laporta accused Real Madrid of influencing referees earlier this season when the Los Blancos had some strange decisions go their way, especially in La Liga.
While the penalty should have indeed been given, it took nothing away from Barcelona’s performance, who, despite not keeping as much possession of the ball as they would have wanted, played one of their best games this season. Xavi’s men had 24 goal attempts, with 10 of them going on target, which was incredible, considering how badly they’ve been in front of goal this season.
