Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and manager Xavi Hernández blamed Spain's “embarrassing” lack of goal-line skill after Sunday's 3-2 loss to Real Madrid. el clasico.
La Liga is one of the few top leagues in Europe that has not introduced this technology, and VAR was used to determine whether Andriy Lunin prevented Lamine Yamal's shot from going over the line in the 1-1 first half against Santiago. It will be left to the discretion of Bernabéu.
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Madrid continued to win the match, with Jude Bellingham's stoppage-time winning goal giving them an 11-point lead over leaders Barça with six games remaining.
“I can't find the words to explain what happened on the goal line,” Ter Stegen told reporters. “It's an embarrassment for football. There's a lot of money in this industry and it's not being spent on important things.
“I don’t understand how we don’t have the funds to implement the technology that other leagues have.”
Xavi echoed Ter Stegen's comments and explained the defeat against Madrid. blaugranaThird defeat of the season in El Clasico, a massive cheating.
“Agree [with Ter Stegen]” Xavi said in the post-match press conference. “It's embarrassing that we don't have goal line technology. If we want to say this is the best league in the world, we need that.
“We've all seen it. What can we say?” [The league] You can punish me. The image is there. Today's emotions are completely unwarranted. ”
“I said before the game that I hoped the referee wouldn't notice and make the right call,” he continued. “In the end, neither of those things happened.”
La Liga president Javier Tebas previously responded to criticism over the lack of goal-line skills: Submit a news article When things didn't go well with other leagues on social media.
The night started well for Barça, who took the lead in the 6th minute with a goal from Andreas Christensen.
Vinicius Junior equalized for Madrid with a penalty after Pau Kvarsi was adjudged to have fouled Lucas Vázquez, but Barça regained the lead in the 20th minute through substitute Fermín López.
But Bellingham's late winner effectively sealed the league title after Vázquez tied Madrid for the second time. los blancos.
Xavi added: “I'm proud of the team, especially in the second half.” “We tried. We were good, but our mistakes cost us the loss.
“Normally, we win based on the flow of the game. We deserved to win. We had more creativity and defended well. We controlled the game.”
This loss will likely draw renewed attention to Xavi's next move. Barça's manager announced he would step down at the end of the season, but there were growing calls for him to stay until this week's Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and then Madrid.
When asked about his future, Xavi said: “Now is not the time.” “We have to digest this loss and think about the next match against Valencia. There are still six games left and we have work to do. Our goal is to finish in first place.” [Spanish] Super Cup next season too [by finishing in the top two].
“There are 38 games in La Liga, so we have to celebrate.” [Madrid]. They had just one loss all season and were virtually assured of winning the title. ”
