The thing is Tebas said they can't do anything because of something happened 5-6 years ago (said something like that), and we didn't really pay for a direct help from referee, only paid to see how each referee officiates so that we can keep a check on our players discipline on field as you said an analysis, and in the end it didn't help, remember the Messi goal that went past the line in 2017 and the referee said no goal? (2017 is when these payments are dated or around it)
i don t think you are funny neither you are talking as if you think you are legit, oh by the way, lol, where s chelsea now,.... never to be seen lol, it s been a long time tbh lol
real madrid vs almeria ring a bell???? that s the state of officiating favored to you know who...
Replying to this as a culer, about a bit more than a year later since I feel it is still a relevant thing.
Truth is, If the Board were paying for referees "favour", then we should end up suing Negreira for the amount of goals that crossed the line and weren't ruled as Goals Pre 2020? Because if anything. then they got scammed?
We are likely to have more control. But we'd need to be cautious, if we press wrong and give space, dembele's in behind and a pass to Mbappe or 2 away from making it 2-0 against us very quickly. Kounde and Araujo need to be wary. 2nd leg we need either of Frenkie or Pedri to be back, because this current midfield is not a midfield apart from Gundogan and Roberto.
Thing is, I am not biased by my team alleigances. I can see how Barcelona actually has had some influence over the refereeing, as any big team would, and will keep on doing, specially in Spain, but thing is this is much more a thing of the sport and the country itself, rather than one team only. I feel is hypocrate to accuse Barcelona of that, when they need to do it to keep themselves competitive, cause everyone does, and is actually a way of trying to keep the refereeing more fair (I insist, even if fair is something subjective). But Barcelona wasn't the first in doing this practices, and I bet they would not do that if the referees weren't working against them on the first place. So yeah, for me is highly hipocrate.
Nah, is not a game to play defensively. But absolutely, not either to play high pressure, but more likely middle block pressure. So, still not letting them have the ball, at least in danger zones, but not being over ambitious. Barcelona has had a lot of problems if they stay either too low or too high on the pressure, specially when they start having players with yellow cards that can't foul the counterattack. They have to sit around the midfield and fight for control. Fight for posession, but without leaving gaps on the back that can be exploited by quick players, deny passing lanes, specially deep through passes lanes that can take the defenses out of position, and play intelligent.
Christensen is a big loss, so I am worried for the midfield. Sure we have Frenkie, Pedri and Gundogan who are our best 3 - other than Gavi - but problem is neither are DMs. Christensen was doing fine at our DM spot despite not even being a DM himself but he was very important, so him being suspended is a big loss. Another problem is even Roberto is suspended, so we don't have options to substitute anyone in the midfield either, other than Fermin.
Are you talking about when Raphinha was standing alone at the edge of the box and there was no one else making a run for like 5 seconds? He crossed to Yamal, who really should have passed to Lewandowski at that time except he went for the Wonder shot instead, but he's even younger than I am, and playing in a CL Quarterfinal. So... he's much better and he will get better
The DM thing is quite a problem, but we still have a chance to mantain our good shape. We still have Casadó, and even when Xavi hasn't tried him in that position, I feel that Cubarsí could make a great job in the DM position. So IMO, there are still options for the position, and if Xavi plays good his cards, we should pass the eliminatory with at least a tie. But indeed, PSG is still far from done, and they are very dangerous, so we really need to make a good match this tuesday and not get overconfident.
I feel that Xavi himself encouraged the players to be creative and aggressive, and when the coach says so, is very difficult to think outside the box and be able to see certain games, you simply try to push harder, and even more being that young. Having the calm to stop the game and look for the space, for the defence error, when you're so young, is something that can be done by few players, like Pedri, or Cubarsi from a deeper position. Speaking about him, I feel he's probably one of the main reasons for Barcelona being so solid in the defensive aspect, along with the rest of players recovering their greater version after Xavi retirement announcement, that took a lot of pressure from them on one hand, but put it on the other, in the sense that there's no excuses anymore. With or without him, players are not going to be so protected by their next coach, they know it, and started working trying to make Xavi change his mind at the end of the season. If Barcelona manages to win both titles there's a good chance that Xavi decides to stay, but even though, is not something sure as there are a lot of pressure from inside the club against him (Deco and some other people wanting to change the Cruyffism model by some mixed model between the German one mixed with some Brasilian-like individualities from certain players in the pitch to avoid being excesively rigid) so I am not sure if even winning both titles is going to make Xavi change opinion, due to all this pressure. Time will tell.
Yeah Xavi's anger problems on the sidelines are really crazy, but at this point his Red Cards happen once every 3 games ... and the referees (in La Liga at least) are bad so his way will never go right with them
