Villarreal is outraged by the way Barcelona left the Estadio de la Cerámica on Saturday with three points (1-3). In the first half, Unai Emery’s home team did not get a penalty after a handball by Gerard Pique after a shot by Arnaut Danjuma and an alleged foul on Raúl Albiol was not penalized either. VAR, on the other hand, did come into action with Barcelona’s opening goal. Frenkie de Jong’s goal was initially rejected for offside, but after intervention by the video arbiter, the 0-1 still appeared on the scoreboard. Spain captain and international Pau Torres could not believe his eyes and insinuated that Barcelona are being helped.
“A possible handball from Pique? A handball. Not a possible handball”, emphasized driver Fernando Roig Negueroles first. “It is incomprehensible that there is no whistle for that. The referee can’t see it, but that’s what the VAR is for. It’s a clear handball. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but the ball goes towards the goal and he touches it with his hand. And that’s why it has to be a penalty kick.” Torres fully agreed with the driver. “The referee said it could have been a penalty kick. I see a clear penalty kick. He goes to the ground and the ball goes against his hand. Not against his stomach,” emphasized the defender.
Garcia slams his hands on the head after throwing this opportunity into Danjuma’s lap ?? Pique reverses the bet, but by hand?? Should Villarreal have been given a penalty here? ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #VillarrealBarça #MotD pic.twitter.com/o6QG55ahuI
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 27, 2021
“He has his hand up and after the contact with the ball his hand goes back. An offside situation requires an analysis of ten minutes, but a penalty takes at most two minutes. The whistle has to be whistled for. Juan Foyth fouled Philippe Coutinho in extra time, but we should have had a penalty in the first half,” Torres repeated. “We are the only team not to have been awarded a penalty this season and Barcelona are the only team not to have conceded a penalty. That way it is impossible.”
Teammate Manu Trigueros was also full of disbelief. “It couldn’t be any clearer. It was a pure handball from Pique. I don’t know what else we have to do to get a penalty.” Emery didn’t know where to look. “We are entitled to an explanation. Something over which we have no influence has influenced the result. I feel no respect,” the Villarreal coach emphasized. “I would like to know why the VAR doesn’t act if the referee doesn’t see something. The foul on Albiol is also a penalty kick, but you can probably say he wasn’t touched enough. But Piqué is all about hitting the ball towards the goal, raising his hand and preventing a goal. We played a game where we could have beaten Barcelona.”
Curious moment? Will Villarreal be deprived of another penalty here? ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #VillarrealBarça #MotD pic.twitter.com/XnUUlVik2c
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 27, 2021
“I don’t know if the referee made a good or bad whistle, but I just don’t understand why those two situations have not been analyzed by the VAR. We are talking about a person. Someone is responsible for that. I believe in VAR, but I don’t understand why people don’t dwell on that moment. I can believe the referee doesn’t see that, but the VAR? Was he sleeping? Looking back now, I’m convinced it will be looked back. Even five minutes later. In the end it was decisive. And we can’t complain because Barcelona won’t like it when they say there are no penalties. They will think they have more power than other clubs because the dot is not pointed to.”
Afterwards there was a small altercation between Emery and Xavi. Spanish media report the trainer to his colleague ‘Como siempre, os lo regalan, os lo regalan‘, ‘You get it as always as a present, as always,’ exclaimed. The Barcelona coach responded by denying that with his finger. The successor to Ronald Koeman also had a light discussion with Imanol Idiakez, Emery’s right-hand man. No hands were shaken. “I have a lot of respect for Xavi,” Emery said. “We’ve talked about certain situations and shaking hands or not doesn’t change that. It doesn’t always have to be a physical handshake.” Xavi: “There was nothing wrong. Everyone can have their own opinion.”
Ricardo Rosety from Movistar + reported that the discussion in the players tunnel was continuing. “An analyst from Villarreal and José Ramón de la Fuente, the goalkeeper coach of Barcelona, faced each other,” the journalist assured. “There was euphoria on one side and disappointment on the other and it collided in the tunnel. The police had to intervene to separate the parties in the tunnel and to allow the referees access to their dressing room.”