Former referees blast Barcelona penalty decision during Getafe draw – Football España

Barcelona were very frustrated to have dropped points at Getafe on Saturday, and that was heightened by a perceived feeling of injustice towards the refereeing team after a big call in the closing stages of the match at the Coliseum.

In the 80th minute, Jules Kounde – who scored Barcelona’s goal during the 1-1 draw – appeared to dragged to the floor by Getafe’s Chrisantus Uche. However, no penalty was given on-field by referee Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes, and the decision was backed up by VAR.

No se han molestado ni en revisar el penalti a Kounde, por lo que sea pic.twitter.com/rr374Vjfug

— Manutinho (@GxlDeManutinho) January 18, 2025

As per Sport, former referee Eduardo Iturralde González admitted that the decision not to award a foul was wrong, as “it’s a penalty because he catches (Kounde)”. COPE analyst Pedro Martin called it “a fairly clear penalty”, while Xavier Estada Fernandez, who is another ex-referee was more blunt on the matter.

“It’s a resounding penalty and I don’t understand why Gonzalez Fuertes doesn’t point it out and also why the VAR doesn’t act.”

Kounde: “Whether we should have been awarded a penalty? I’m not going to speak about that.”

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 18, 2025

Barcelona will be very annoyed not to have won at Getafe, especially with Atletico Madrid losing against Leganes earlier in the day. Real Madrid could end up being the big beneficiaries of the weekend, should they defeat Las Palmas on Sunday.