I am sure you're all aware, but if Madrid doesn't win tomorrow, then we will already clinch the title before playing on Thursday. Vini is out so I am guessing Mbappe will have free reign to stat pad and assure the pichichi title.
What I still don't understand about the first PK call/no offside no-call is, offside is given the instant the attacking player with the ball makes the pass forward. If there is a teammate in an offside position who appears to be making a play on the pass, then offside is given. Cubarsí mishandling the pass is irrelevant. If officiated properly, the play is dead at the moment in the screenshot above. The way offsides is officiated on the field nowadays, the play is allowed to continue. And this confuses matters in this case. A fair VAR intervention here would have intervened to call the offside at the moment of the through-ball being played. After following soccer for 40 years, I truly can't understand how even Mister Chip and other pundits don't see it this way.
Good analysis. I probably disagree with the handball PK though just based on the fact that I don't think there is anything in the rules today that mention treating it differently if the shot is on target vs a cross or pass. Also on the foul on Lamine ... not sure accidental stepping on a foot like that with Valverde not really stretching his foot or going for the ball with that foot constitutes a foul. Seemed very incidental. 100% agre with them making a mistake on Fermin's goal as he did not gain an advantage from it. Robbed us of a manita.
Now that I've watched it, here's the quick rundown: 1. 0-1: probably correct call. MisterChip thinks Cubarsí's mis-touch is a "different run of play". 2. 0-2: missed Valverde's stomp on Lamine's foot leading 9 seconds later to the goal. Should've been called back. 3. 1-2: missed handball on de Jong. Happened 30 seconds before the goal so not reviewable by VAR. Ref missed call, but VAR did well not to intervene. 4. Tchouameni foul on Ferran breakaway - DOGSO? Yellow was warranted because Ferran's touch was leading away from goal, toward the sideline. Asensio was in the vicinity too. 5. Tchouameni handball on Ferran volley. Ref missed the call on the field AND in VAR review. Key is that Tchou's arm blocks the shot heading on goal. First time in Clásico history that a ref missed PK call does NOT reverse his call after watching VAR replays. 6. Fermín called handball ahead of 5-3 goal. Ref misses Valverde's stomp on Fermín immediately before the handball AND he misses the fact that Valverde regained control of the ball after the stomp and handball, initiating a new run of play. VAR should not have intervened. Legal goal. I'll add a #7 from the first half. Tchouameni slide tackles Raphinha from behind as he heads the ball off a beautiful cross from Lamine, throwing the attacker off. Header goes high, but Tchou was not challenging for the ball at all so any contact should've been whistled. Anyway, it's only important to document this stuff because most Clásicos will be decided by much tighter margins and bad officiating will affect the outcome.
In total, another 4 LPB players will miss out on the game tonight on top of those that were already injured for el clasico. Tchouameni suspended and Rodrygo, Vazquez and Vinny sustained new injuries. I am not sure Valverde is 100% either after that nasty fall. They may not win another match this season.
I think it falls under the "if the handball gives an unfair advantage" in which case it certainly did. There's no room for judging intent so accidental/incidental or not, Valverde's step dispossessed Lamine and gave him possession while taking Lamine out of the play. That is a foul. Same with this play. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/icH9Sf3kSlQ Ridiculous reaching by the ref and VAR to turn over that play.
They, and RFEF have already been padding the stats with the obscene number of PK tries hes had this season. What is it, 9 PK goals for mbappe to Robert's 3?
I hate the delayed offside call. I'd prefer that in a clear and obvious offside position, the flag be raised immediately.
Officially its 7 to 3. But of course, that doesn't include tap-ins from penalty saves that rebound back to the PK taker.
I understand the logic of letting the play run in case the ref assistant is wrong in flagging offside. But one big problem is that defenders have to keep on defending needlessly, tiring them out. And at some point, someone will get injured from a "dead play"--and that would be totally unfair and unnecessary.
Both of these are reasons to dislike the delayed offside flag. If its clear to Ray fücking Charles that a player is offside, whats the point? But for closer calls, a delayed offside seems more appropriate, IMO.
La Liga | J35 Date: May 15, 2025 We need 2 points to clinch the title. Since there are no score lines that give us 2 points, lets get the win at Asspanyol and then arrive at Montjuïc over the weekend as champions.
No Kounde, no Ferran for today. Finish the title TODAY, because Villarreal have reasons to keep fighting, and so do Athletic. Gotta get Lewandowski a bucket full of goals, because Fvkc LPB, their crying ways, their bullying the refs into giving them more PKs, and fvkc mbappe, too.
Hope for a repeat result from 2023 when we clinched at Espanyol. Not hoping for their ultras to invade the pitch again.
Also, a draw tonight would still get us close. It would set up an 'everyone-is-happy-with-a-draw' scenario for the Villarreal and Athletic matches. Not that we know how to settle/play for a draw. Heck, we don't know how to play for a 1-goal win. But a draw in Espanyol would just make the Villarreal match less stressful as a fan knowing another draw is good enough.
For me, I'd ideally like the title to be finished today, so that only Lewandowski's Pichichi race, and perhaps getting the bench pieces some minutes as last items for this season. Also, Villarreal need to get as many wins as possible to solidify their UCL dreams for next season; Betis are right on their heels. So, I don't think they're gonna settle for a draw when they come to Montjuic.
Update on that: Betis dropped points today, so Villarreal and Athletic Club are both 1 point away from realistically clinching a CL spot (since goal diff is too big to make up, especially given Betis' last two opponents).
Some other (meaningless) targets for today: - Need 5 goals to hit 100 league goals on the season, for first time since 2016-17. - Somewhat surprisingly, Barca still need a win to equal last season's point total. And 2 wins to equal the point total of two seasons ago.
Would rather Lamine recycle that ball around instead of trying try to carry it around a clogged wing.
I will ask the question ... what's up with so many Barca players with their hands wrapped up ? They can't all have had hand injuries.