FC Barcelona has not escaped the refereeing controversy so far this season. The Blaugrana team has been the victim of more than questionable decisions by the referees in the first eight rounds of LaLiga Santander, where the rigor of the referees seems to have increased against the Blaugrana team at specific and convenient moments.
This has been evident in the awarding of penalties, where the culés have been awarded two penalties in their favor and two against them. The first of them, against Athletic Club in the second round of the local championship, was scored by Oihan Sancet, while in the duel against Osasuna last Sunday the second took place, converted into a goal by Ante Budimir.
A statistic that takes on even more relevance if you take into account that in the last 15 games, Barça have been awarded four penalties in their favour, while in the previous 77 they were 'only' awarded three penalties.
It all started on matchday 32 of the 23/24 season, when in the Clásico against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu (3-2), César Soto Grado awarded a penalty to the Merengues that, at that moment, tied the score at 1. Later, on matchday 33 against Valencia at Montjuïc (4-2), Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea awarded the second penalty against the Blaugranas in the last season to give the Che team a momentary advantage, which would end up falling to the team led, at that time, by Xavi.
| SEASON | MATCHADAY | MATCH | SCORER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-2025 | Matchday 2 | FC Barcelona-Athletic Club: 2-1 | Oihan Sancet |
| 2024-2025 | Matchday 8 | Osasuna-FC Barcelona: 4-2 | Ante Budimir |
| 2023-2024 | Matchday 33 | FC Barcelona-Valencia: 4-2 | Pepelu |
| 2023-2024 | Matchday 32 | Real Madrid-FC Barcelona: 3-2 | Vinicius Jr. |
Three penalties in 77 matches
Previously, Barça had only been awarded three penalties between matchdays 31 of the 2023-2024 season and 31 of the 2021-2022 season. In fact, all of these took place in 2022/23. The first, against Real Madrid in the Clásico at the Bernabéu on matchday 9 (3-1); later, against Espanyol at the Spotify Camp Nou (1-1) on matchday 15; and finally, against Valladolid at the José Zorrilla on matchday 36 (3-1).
| SEASON | MATCHDAY | MATCH | SCORER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 | Matchday 9 | Real Madrid-FC Barcelona: 3-1 | Rodrygo |
| 2022-2023 | Matchday 15 | FC Barcelona-Espanyol: 1-1 | Joselu |
| 2022-2023 | Matchday 36 | Valladolid-FC Barcelona: 3-1 | Larin |
A compelling fact that highlights the refereeing double standards, since in the last three seasons, Real Madrid have only been awarded 4 penalties.