The 6-1 loss in 2017 to FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second-leg is one of the more controversial officiated matches. Now, a report reveals several arbitration errors.
A report by the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees José Enríquez Negreira and his son organized for FC Barcelona acknowledges the mistakes in favor of the Spanish club.
Furthermore, the report appears in the summary of the Negreira case (h/t AS), which is being investigated by the investigating court 1 of Barcelona and one of the matches in the overview is the infamous match at Camp Nou in 2017.
When it comes to the two plays in question, they are the penalty committed by Javier Mascherano in the 84th minute that was not sanctioned and the penalty awarded against Luis Suárez in the 89th minute.
For the Mascherano player, the report states that “Mascherano’s kick on [Angel] Di Maria on an obvious goal occasion in the Barcelona area” and adds that, although the referee did not say anything, the correct decision would have been to award a penalty against Barcelona and send off the defender.
Regarding the penalty awarded to Suárez, which made the score 5-1, the analysis notes that the player “takes advantage of a slight contact on the chest to let himself fall” and confirms that the correct decision would have been not to grant the penalty.
