Al-Sharif revealed his opinion about what happened in the Barcelona and Atletico Madrid match (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed / Getty)
Saw the confrontation that brought together the club Atletico Madrid Its guest, Barcelona, at the “Civitas Metropolitano” stadium, on Sunday, as part of the 16th week of competitions La Liga Football, a number of arbitration cases, which raised questions among the fans, because of the decisions of referee Luis Monoeira.
The arbitration expert for “The New Arab”, Jamal Al-Sharif, revealed his opinion of what happened in the confrontation between Atletico Madrid and its guest Barcelona, saying: “In the third minute at the start of the match, a counterattack was cut off by the Barcelona players, and it reached Ansu Fati.”
And he continued: “Fati tried to hit the ball from a very close distance, but Stefan Savic, defender of Atletico Madrid, made a sliding operation to cut the ball with his right leg, but the ball hit the ground and the right knee and returned to the hand that fell to the ground as a result of the sliding operation, which was carried out by the defender, and thus the referee’s decision. It is true that a penalty kick was not awarded, because the ball rebounded from the player to the ground and then to the Barcelona striker, and there is no violation that deserves a penalty kick.
Regarding the second case in the tenth minute, the former international referee answered: “An organized attack by Barcelona, in which the ball reached inside the penalty area to the Barcelona player, who tried to pass by diverting the path of the ball, to bypass his opponent, Reneldo Mandava, defender of Atletico Madrid.”
And he added: “Reneldo Mandava fixed his foot on the ground, while the Barcelona player moved his foot forward and touched his opponent’s foot, to fall into the penalty area, but the referee ordered to continue playing, because his decision was correct, and there was no violation.”
Regarding the validity of Barcelona’s goal, Al-Sharif explained: “Mandava, defender of Atletico Madrid, extended his leg in an attempt to obtain the ball, and engaged in a legitimate contact with the Barcelona player, who was able to pass the ball to Osman Dembele, and scored it in his opponent’s net, and therefore the goal is correct.”
And he went on to say: “The ball was in the field of competition between the players, and both of them did not perform an obstruction, pulling, pushing, or catching process, but rather extended their arm towards each other, as the Barcelona player was able to catch the ball and pass it to his colleague, and the referee’s decision was correct to count him, despite the objections of the Atletico players. Madrid”.
As for not counting a penalty kick in favor of Atletico Madrid before the end of the first half, the former international referee explained: “A ball shot from close range collides from behind with the hand of Barcelona player Araujo, but his hand was close to his body and did not move towards the ball to play it, and therefore the decision was correct not to A penalty kick was awarded, as there was no foul on the Barcelona player.
Before the end of the match, Atletico Madrid demanded a penalty kick, but the referee ordered the continuation of play, and about this case, Al-Sharif said: “Alvaro Morata fell in the penalty area, after he tried to pass between 3 players from Barcelona.”
And he continued: “When Morata saw himself between pincers from the players, and the opportunity to reach the ball and control it was difficult, which made him think of falling inside the penalty area, but the referee was close and ordered to continue playing, despite the pressures he was subjected to, and therefore his decision was correct that there was no penalty kick in favor of Atletico Madrid”.
The difficult confrontation did not pass without the referee displaying the red card in the face of the Barcelona and Atletico Madrid player, which Jamal Al-Sharif commented on by saying: “In the 92nd minute, Barcelona player Torres grabbed the neck and head of his rival, Atletico Madrid defender Savic, and knocked him down.”
And the former international referee concluded his speech: “The Atletico Madrid defender responded to what the Barcelona player did, which is behavior or a round of conflict and the ball is far away. As a result of a quarrel between them, and therefore his decision was correct and the resumption of the projection game.