Barcelona left frustrated with Real Madrid star’s rather easy let-off – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have long been on the receiving end of unfavorable refereeing decisions in La Liga. The Catalan club have often witnessed calls go against them, while similar offenses involving their biggest rivals, Real Madrid, have been treated differently.

In all fairness, there’s not much you can expect from a league whose president is a self-proclaimed Real Madrid fan. With so much external bias against them, it becomes incredibly difficult for Barcelona to compete for the league title year after year.

The latest example of this bias comes in the form of the suspension handed to Real Madrid star attacker Vinícius Júnior, who was sent off against Valencia after hitting the opposition goalkeeper and retaliating against the referee following the decision.

However, the Brazilian has now been handed a two-match suspension, which has raised concerns among Barcelona over the fairness of the decision. According to SPORT, match referee César Soto Grado’s failure to accurately report the incident allowed the decision-makers to go easy on the Real Madrid star.

Interestingly, such an offense typically carries a suspension of between four and twelve matches, including Super Cup games. Given that Vinícius displayed aggressive behavior towards the referee after the decision, his suspension should have been closer to twelve games rather than four.

Avid Barcelona fans will remember an incident from a couple of seasons ago when Robert Lewandowski was handed a second yellow card. His suspension was increased to three games after the Polish veteran was caught touching his nose, an action the referee deemed derogatory.

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Not too long ago, Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick was handed a two-match suspension in La Liga for a relatively trivial reason, causing him to miss the Atletico Madrid game. Had Vinícius been given a proper punishment, he would have either missed the Super Cup matches or Real Madrid’s league game against Atletico Madrid.

This incident serves as a timely reminder of what Barcelona are forced to contend with on a daily basis, and why winning the league would make such an achievement even more extraordinary. There’s no point in dwelling on this; instead, let’s focus on trying to pip Carlo Ancelotti’s men to the Super Cup title.