La Liga - Week 5 Fixtures - 21st-23rd September 2018

[Carnivore Chris]

2 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Piqué was half asleep in the Girona goal before half-time. That's one of his most annoying things.

After a great clearance not so lo g before it. He's definitely a strange one. 

[SirBalon]

FC BARCELONA 2-2 GIRONA FC (FT)

Because of Piqué the game finished a draw and never better said.  Anyway... At least it wasn't a defeat.

[SirBalon]

So the red card issues by referee Gil Manzano to the Barcelona defender Clément Lenglet for an alleged deliberate elbow on Girona attacker Pére Pons has caused a storm in the Spanish sports media.

The Barça players were furious when the referee issued the red card almost four minutes after the incident and having been called to consult the VAR service.  According to the referee Lenglet deliberately elbows the Girona attacker and without a doubt there is an action to look into as the Barcelona defender's elbow does impact on the face of Pons.  But Lenglet and the Barcelona players were adamant that the foul was caused by Pére Pons and that the reason for the subsequent elbow was due to the action when Lenglet is fouled by Pons.

The storm has turned into a further turbulent affair due to the words captured after the game from various parties no more importantly than the Girona attacker himself where he told a reporter that he hadn't been elbowed on purpose and that he had even told the ref that he had cause the foul and that the Barcelona defender in a turning action caught him in the face.  He did also add that it could easily be interpreted as a deliberate aggression but it wasn't.

these are the quotes after the game;

Clément Lenglet

"I didn't elbow the player deliberately but the referee issued the red and there wasn't anything I could do about it. The Girona defender even tried to help but the ref didn't want to listen."

Sergio Busquets

"I knew that my words would fall on deaf ears but I just couldn't believe it and I almost got myself sent-off for insisting.  I was right in front of the action and it was plainly obvious that Pére Pons takes out Lenglet in what even looked like a booking for the Girona player.  Lenglet's action with his arm is totally natural and unfortunate... It completely changed everything and we were dominating the game at the time."

Ernesto Valverde

"It's absolutely ridiculous. Only someone that has never played the game could see that as a deliberate aggression... What makes it worse is that the Girona defender actually tells the referee that he wasn't elbowed deliberately but it seems that the referee's narcissism has taken him to want to be a star.  Infact you could see that during the remainder of the game... Pére Pons came to me at the end of the game and apologised personally... I told him it wasn't his fault. Everything changed after that and I couldn't fix the problem straight away."

Pére Pons

"I made the foul and I told the referee that it wasn't a deliberate elbow but he wasn't listening.  I apologised to both Lenglet and Valverde after the game."

[JoshBRFC+]

Title race back on! 

[The Artful Dodger]

Barcelona being sour gimps again, he elbowed him and deserved to be red carded.