Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Koeman blames referees for 2-1 defeat in El Clasico

 


Barcelona manager, Ronald Koeman, has criticized the referees for not awarding his side a late penalty, as they lost 2-1 to Real Madrid on Saturday.

Ferland Mendy appeared to pull Martin Braithwaite down in the last 10 minutes.

But referee Gil Manzano waved play on and VAR did not intervene in the decision.

“Everyone has seen the game and if you’re a Barca fan, you’re angry; you’re not happy with some of the referee’s decisions,” Koeman told Movistar after the final whistle.

“First of all, I just want to say that in the first half, we weren’t good, attacking or defending. In the second half, we improved.

“I only ask that referees get decisions right. It’s a penalty and then, after that, to only add four minutes of stoppage time when the referee had spent three minutes (fixing a communication) issue with the VAR… But the penalty is crystal clear. There is a referee, a linesman, VAR…”