La Liga branded ‘embarrassing’ by Barcelona for lack of goal-line technology in Real Madrid’s controversial El Clásico win

Barcelona coach Xavi and keeper Marc-André ter Stegen label La Liga “embarrassing” for its lack of goal-line technology after the 3-2 El Clásico loss to Real Madrid.

Barcelona manager Xavi and goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen have labeled La Liga “embarrassing” for its lack of goal-line technology after the team was denied what it thought was a legitimate goal in Sunday’s 3-2 El Clásico defeat by Real Madrid. The incident occurred in the 28th minute after Real Madrid forward Vinícius Jr. had levelled the scores at 1-1 following Andreas Christensen’s early opening goal at the Bernabéu Stadium in the Spanish capital. Teenager Lamine Yamal flicked on Raphinha’s corner at the near post and appeared to catch out Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who desperately shoveled the ball away from the goal, with Barca players claiming it had crossed the line. Despite Barca’s vehement protests referee César Soto’s on-field decision was that the ball had not crossed the line, with the incident then being checked by VAR. The camera angles provided by VAR were inconclusive – including one looking directly down the goal line that was blocked by Lunin’s body – meaning Soto’s original decision stood. La Liga is now the only one of Europe’s top five leagues that doesn’t have goal-line technology, with Spanish outlet Cadena Ser reporting at the start of the current season that league president Javier Tebas refused to pay the €3 million ($3.2M) it would cost to install the system.