Frenkie de Jong’s harsh criticism after Barcelona’s disallowed goal in the Copa del Rey defeat: ‘If it’s not AI…’

Barcelona has too many defensive problems to compete with Europe’s best teams. Thursday’s embarrassing defeat against Atletico Madrid in the first stage of the King’s cup The semi-finals made that clear. However, a disallowed goal by Pau Cubarsí led to fierce criticism Frenkie de Jong.

Only one team was on the field in the first half, with Atlético Madrid scoring all four goals before half-time. A comeback seemed possible early in the second half when Cubarsí scored, but a VAR intervention denied that possibility after waiting six minutes.

When asked about the offside images that were shown, De Jong had a clear answer: “If what was mentioned on the field is the image I saw, and if it’s not AI, because nowadays you never know, then it’s a scandal. It is very clear.”

Joan Laporta about the referees

There were many opinions about the controversial decision. Even though the outcome was unlikely to change, the reaction was widespread. Johannes Laporta was one of the most critical in an online post.

The president, who has resigned to run again in the elections March 15 elections, called on fans to continue to believe in the players as they can turn the score around, while also denouncing the current refereeing situation.

Laporta wrote: “The goal that Cubarsí was wrongly disallowed reminds us of that of Lamine Yamal in Anoeta. Nothing is innocent. That’s why we have to fight against everything and everyone.”

Laporta complained about Atlético Madrid’s pitch

The presidential candidate also showed support for the team as he prepared for the elections, criticizing the condition of Atlético Madrid’s pitch before the match.

Laporta said in his message: “Unfortunately, we suffered a series of setbacks yesterday, of the field in poor condition to an incorrectly disallowed goal, which prevented us from starting the comeback that would have been possible with everyone’s support.”