Robbery at Barça! The refereeing is up to its old tricks again against Rayo Vallecano

​Refereeing continues to be a trend in LaLiga and not in a good way. César Soto Grado did not leave a good impression on FC Barcelona, ​​after making a couple of rather controversial decisions in the match against Rayo Vallecano on matchday 3 of LaLiga that harmed Hansi Flick's team.

The referee's first victim was Dani Olmo. The Terrassa native made his debut in the blue and red shirt at the start of the second half when he replaced Ferran Torres in the 45th minute. However, the first time he touched the ball inside the area, a clear penalty was not called. César Soto Grado did not consider that Florian Lejeune's tackle on the Euro 2024 winner in the area was worthy of a penalty from the 12 steps and refused to review it with Jorge Figueroa Vázquez in the VAR room.

The refereeing controversies against Barça continue

In the case of Olmo, the player entered the Rayo Vallecano area after a great oriented control and, after trying the cut, his run is interrupted by the leg of Leujene, who releases it with the ball no longer there and hits the leg of the player from Egar, sending him to the ground of the field of play. The other controversial play of the match was against Robert Lewandowski. The Pole scored his fourth goal of the season in the 73rd minute, but Soto Grado disallowed the goal for a foul by Jules Koundé in a previous play.

The French defender controlled a ball on the edge of the box before releasing the ball in the play that had triggered the 1-2, but in his desire to protect the ball he stepped on Pep Chavarría, something that the Rayo players immediately complained about at the moment of the goal. Although Koundé's foul is quite questionable because in the video it is clearly seen that his boot barely touches the other player's.

It should also be noted that Soto Grado was the referee who sent off Xavi Hernández in the first matchday of last season in Getafe, after the player from Getafe accused him of making up a handball by Gavi to cancel a penalty in favour of the Catalan team. Barcelona's record with this referee has not been good at all and it is with him that they have achieved the worst results with four wins, two draws and five defeats.

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