MADRID:Still mired in controversy over its payments to the company of a former refereeing committee official, Barcelona restored its lead over Real Madrid to nine points in the Spanish league on Sunday after a late VAR decision went its way. Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 after video review disallowed an 87th-minute goal by Bilbao forward Iñaki Williams for a handball in the buildup. VAR also was used to confirm Barcelona’s winning goal by Raphinha after it was initially disallowed for offside.
“I thought they were looking at offsides, but then I saw it on the video board, and I think it was a handball,” Barcelona coach Xavi said. Williams laughed at the decision on Twitter after the game. “We are upset,” Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde said. “Nobody on the field had seen anything, not even the referee or the fourth official or the other assistants.” The review of Williams’ goal took nearly three minutes. When the decision was announced, it drew loud jeers from the home fans at San Mamés Stadium.
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Madrid had moved to six points off the lead with a 3-1 win at Espanyol at home on Saturday. Barcelona and Madrid play the final league “clasico” next week at Camp Nou stadium. The controversy came hours after Madrid had announced it would side against Barcelona in the legal proceedings that the rival is facing over its payments of millions of euros over several years to a company that belonged to the former vice president of Spain’s soccer refereeing committee.
Prosecutors on Friday formally accused Barcelona of alleged corruption in sports, fraudulent management and falsification of mercantile documentation. An investigating judge will decide whether the accusations should lead to charges. The Catalan club has denied wrongdoing. Xavi said the team has not been talking about what may happen because of the legal proceedings.
“We are focused on playing soccer,” he said. “People are reaching conclusions ahead of time. It’s sad.” Raphinha scored the winner in first-half stoppage time with a shot from inside the area after a superb pass by Sergio Busquets. The lineman raised his flag but video review determined the Brazil forward was in a legal position.
There didn’t immediately appear to be anything wrong with the goal by Williams, but the referee was asked to look at Iker Muniain’s touch of the ball with his arm earlier in the buildup, and it was deemed to have been enough to disallow the goal. Bilbao, which stayed in ninth place, hit the woodwork a couple of times and was also stopped by great saves from Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen.