Barcelona defender Eric Garcia was surprised by the referee of his team’s match against Las Palmas on Saturday, considering that the pressure imposed by Real Madrid causes additional crises in La Liga matches.
The referee had conducted a long review of the play that came to Garcia’s hands to award a penalty kick to Las Palmas, but in the end he did not award it due to the yellow club player being offside before the handball.
After the match, Garcia said about what happened, “I was sure there was offside before anything else, and also the ball touched the Las Palmas player’s hand before me, and even when I touched it I was trying to push my hand away to the ground, it is impossible for it to be a penalty kick.”
He also added, “It seems that the current atmosphere (Real Madrid’s campaign against referees) forced the referee to review everything carefully.”
He concluded, “What we do not understand is why the referee was called to review the shot despite knowing there was a clear offside, things were supposed to end at this point.”
It remains to be noted that Barcelona regained the lead in La Liga after defeating Las Palmas, with a one-point difference over Atletico Madrid, and a temporary three-point difference over Real Madrid until it plays its match against Girona on Sunday.
