FC Barcelona manager did not excuse their bad performance against Atlético de Madrid in the Copa del Rey semifinal, admitting that their rivals played better in the 4-0 thrashing in the first leg at the Metropolitano. However, he also complained about the refereeing of the match, particularly in two plays, a foul by Giuliano Simeone on Alejandro Balde, which was not sanctioned by yellow card, and a goal by Pau Cubarsí ruled out by VAR after seven minutes of deliberation in the VAR room.
Sources from the club say that they are very angry that semi automatic offside technology (SAOT) did not work on that play, that would have meant a 4-1 for Barcelona in the 52nd minute. The Technical Committee of Referees said that "during the analysis, it was detected that the system generated a failure in the modeling of players through the skeletons, upon detecting a situation of high player density".
There were too many players in the area, and the technology malfunctioned because of that. And because the system did not work, VAR team "proceeded to manually draw offside lines to make the final and correct decision". The club is expected to issue a formal complaint to the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation), feeling that the failure in technology hampered them, as they defend that the goal was legal.
Frenkie de Jong, speaking in the mixed zone, said that "The image I saw, if it's not AI, which you don't realise anymore... If this is the photo, it's a scandal because it's very clear".