BARCELONA stars were forced to warm up again after a farcical VAR check took close to 10 MINUTES.
thumped in the first leg of their Copa Del Rey semi-final – with taking centre stage in the second half.
Atletico Madrid hosted Barcelona on Thursday nightCredit: Alamy
Atleti found themselves 4-0 up at half-time – but Barca thought they had a foothold early in the second period as Pau Cubarsi scored in the 51st minute.
Fermin Lopez’s effort deflected off and fell for Cubarsi who poked home.
However with the ever-reliable semi-automated offside broken, an eight-minute goal check examining whether the Polish marksman was in an offside position, followed.
The goal was finally ruled out after what felt like an eternity with Lewandowski eventually adjudged to have been millimetres offside.
During the VAR check, players opted to warm-up for the second time of the evening – further exposing the staggering amount of time the decision took.
VAR’s work was not done for the night as in the 85th minute Joan Garcia was dismissed – a loose pass from Lopez caused the centre-back to leave a late challenge on Alex Baena.
A yellow card was shown initially but VAR opted for a red due to the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity.
In a drama filled affair, inevitably tapped into his pantomime villain persona, as he when Atleti went 3-0 up.
The Argentine held up three fingers and laughed at the teenage sensation.
The first leg finished 4-0 to Atleti – it was the first time in 73 years that Barca had been down by four goals at half-time.
Diego Simeone taunted Lamine YamalCredit: EL Chringuito
The Spanish football federation’s refereeing committee later said the delay was due to a fault in their semi-automated offside system, caused by a “high density of players”.
The Catalan giants will need a gargantuan second leg performance in order to have a chance at maintaining their Copa Del Rey title.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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