Barcelona’s dramatic comeback win over Levante on Saturday featured a highly controversial moment when Alejandro Balde was called for a penalty that gave Levante a chance to score their second goal just before halftime.
Balde was called for a handball after a VAR review, and the Spanish Federation has released the audio conversation
between VAR Jorge Figueroa and match referee Alejandro Hernández Hernández.Here’s the exchange:
Figueroa: Alejandro, I recommend you come see a potential penalty for handball.
Let me know when you’re at the screen, please.
Hernández Hernández: The hand is quite far apart, correct, the shot is on target. Put it in super slow motion, I want to see it slowly. It’s only a penalty, no booking for [Balde].
Figueroa: Correct.
Balde’s penalty brought comparisons to the highly controversial call involving Real Madrid’s Aurélien Tchouameni in the final El Clásico of last season, in which Hernández Hernández was called to the screen to review a very similar situation and decided not to point to the spot.
Now the same referee gave a penalty against Barcelona for a handball that was a lot less clear than Tchouameni’s. Go figure.
