We shouldn't complain about the refs and just play winning soccer, sure. But every team will have bad/unlucky games, and the refereeing inconsistencies end up swinging results. So LPB play mediocre and get bailed out by dubious PK calls. 3 points. We play mediocre and have some key decisions go inexplicably against us. 0 points. League titles end up being decided on these differences.
To that, I say to Roony and Bernal: Make the damn play first, and THEN go complain to the ref, after you've won the ball or cleared it out of touch. Why, you may ask? For as long as I've played/coached/followed the game, I cant remember a ref changing his call while the ball is still live.
oh and another thing , the pk should've been retaken because the player who cleared the ball was inside the box when it was being taken , but looking who was responsible for VAR it makes sense it wasn't checked
The thing about whether it's right or not to complain about the officiating is, when we play well and win, we and everyone can look past the bad calls because it didn't affect the result. But when we play meh and lose points partly due to bad calls, the officiating stands out as more determinant of the result. The point is, Spanish officiating is inconsistent at best, biased at worst, and whether or not we "deserved" to win based on our performance, the officiating needs to be fair and consistent. Period. BTW, Echeverri deserved a yellow for the stomp on Kounde, and that ought to have been his 2nd yellow after the shirt pull on Frenkie earlier that also wasn't called. (Ref gave "advantage" to Frenkie, but he is still supposed to issue the yellow card afterwards.) Funny how these things still get swept under the rug even when the spotlight is on full blast.
If we can't get the W at home vs. 19th-placed Levante, on 6 days rest with no midweek game coming up, with lots to prove after 2 disappointing losses, then we don't deserve to win this Liga.
They keep comparing Bernal to Busi, but the closer comps are Yaya Toure or Paulinho. Bernal is more box-to-box than pure DM
Pardon my blasphemy Maybe André Gomes is another player in the same mold as Bernal, but we hope Marc surpasses him
C'mon Hansi, this is a good time to give Roony and Araujo a run. We may need them at the business end of the season
Hate to say it, but we've been playing more and more like the team Xavi coached toward the end of his time. Much more horizontal passing, cross and pray, etc. But without the more conservative defense.