Barcelona and Man Utd draw dubbed ‘a scandal’ by Spanish press despite Erik ten Hag fury

Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United has been labeled a “scandal” by Catalan media, despite Erik ten Hag’s displeasure with the refereeing. During the match at the Nou Camp, both teams were excellent. As a result, the tie is still very much in play ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford next week.

Barcelona has been in excellent form in La Liga this season, with Xavi’s team presently leading Real Madrid in the race for the title.

And they gained the lead on Thursday night thanks to Marcos Alonso, who scored in the 50th minute for former Chelsea.

The game changed after that goal.

United equalized through Marcus Rashford and then took the lead when Jules Kounde put the ball in his own net after some good work by the England international.

Finally, Raphinha curled home an equalizer to secure a draw for Barcelona.

Barcelona has been in excellent form in La Liga this season, with Xavi’s team presently leading Real Madrid in the race for the title.

And they gained the lead on Thursday night thanks to Marcos Alonso, who scored in the 50th minute for former Chelsea.

The game changed after that goal.

United equalized through Marcus Rashford and then took the lead when Jules Kounde put the ball in his own net after some good work by the England international.

Finally, Raphinha curled home an equalizer to secure a draw for Barcelona.

“Neither the referee nor the video arbitrator said anything, allowing the game to continue without penalty.”

Mundo Deportivo has also criticized the decision not to award Barcelona a penalty kick.

“The players and technicians of FC Barcelona complained bitterly about some arbitration decisions by the Italian referee Maurizio Mariani, especially a very clear handball from Fred inside the Manchester United area after a header from Sergi Roberto,” wrote Fernando Polo in his analysis for the newspaper.

“Towards the end of the game, Xavi, for example, went to notify the referee, also complained about a possible penalty for Jordi Alba.”

“It’s a clear hand, and the United player has his arm outstretched,” Polo continued.

“As a result, the penalty is apparent. It’s odd that the VAR did not alert the referee so that he could at least observe the play on the monitor before making a judgement.

“Maybe the explanation is because in Europe they must see a very clear hand to whistle it, but in the parameters of Spanish football, when a player intercepts a ball inside the area with his arm unattached from his body it is a penalty.

“Mariani, in my perspective, failed.”

While Barcelona may be upset, Ten Hag expressed his displeasure with the referee’s performance.

“This team had a lot of character and determination,” he remarked.

“The conviction that we had to score the first goal, the significance of scoring the first goal, is crucial, and that’s what we didn’t achieve.

“We turn it around when we were down, and then also I think the refereeing had a significant role in this game.

“I think there was a clean foul on Rashy; you can debate whether it was inside or outside the box…”

“Well, so it was a red card because he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper therefore it was a major influence, not only on this game, but in this round,” he said when told it happened outside the box.

“A referee cannot make such an error.”

United’s last meeting with Barcelona at Old Trafford was in 2019.

They were defeated 1-0 on that occasion, with Luis Suarez scoring the game’s only goal.