Refereeing opinion: the 'wronged' Barcelona deserved a penalty

Barcelona thrashed hosts Valencia 5-0 at the Mestalla in matchday four of the Spanish league. Lamine Yamal grabbed a brace, with Fermin Lopez, Raphinha and Pedri completing the rout. The win took Barcelona to 12 points at the top of La Liga with a perfect record. Valencia stayed rooted to the bottom on a single point. Early in the second half, in the 49th minute, Raphinha went down inside the penalty area after a challenge with Valencia's Mavo. "Archivo VAR", an account on X that specialises in controversial refereeing situations, claimed: "video technology failed to award a penalty during the Valencia and Barcelona match". It continued: "Mavo touched the ball, a light touch, and then brought down Raphinha, who had already controlled the ball". Archivo VAR stressed: "It is a penalty. Although Mavo touched the ball, his foul prevented the Brazilian player from continuing to play". ️ El VAR dejó pasar un penalti en el Valencia - Barcelona. Maffeo puntea ligeramente el balón y, tras ello, derriba a Raphinha, que había controlado la pelota.❌ .▪️ Pese a tocar balón, su derribo hace que el brasileño no pueda seguir la acción. pic.twitter.com/7dum9Tr8MR This article first appeared on Goal.com and was syndicated with permission.