The Real Betis coach, Juan Manuel Pellegrini, launched an open criticism after the 2-5 defeat against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou. In his first comment after the match, the coach expressed his frustration at what he described as a series of refereeing decisions that, according to him, “unbalanced” the match and contributed to his team's defeat.
Pellegrini pointed out that the match did not reflect the reality of the match, citing several incidents that he considered “inexplicable and improperly” applied by arbitrary authority. Among those he mentioned were the disallowance of a Betis goal, a play in which a Barcelona player pushed a Betis defender and a handball occurred 30 meters away that, according to the coach, had no impact on the result. In addition, he criticized the lack of review by the VAR in the rival's third goal, where the ball hit the head of the Betis striker.
The most controversial point, according to Pellegrini, was the expulsion of Lamine Yamal. The coach argued that the provocation that supposedly led to the sending off should have resulted in a yellow card for both players, but ended with the sending off of one and a yellow card for the other. “There were incidents that exclusively harmed us,” said the coach, highlighting that Betis had played outnumbered during part of the match.
In his speech, Pellegrini also recalled that Betis had managed to maintain a competitive performance when they had 11 players, and that the expulsion "unbalanced" the score. “If we managed to play Barcelona as equals when we were 11 against 11,” he said, adding that the elimination of a player from the rival team allowed the Catalans to score the last goals and change the course of the match.
The coach concluded that, despite the numerous fouls and controversial decisions, both teams were committed to playing with intensity and that the refereeing incidents "killed a spectacle in front of 60,000 spectators." With the defeat, Betis finds itself at the bottom of the First Division table, while Barcelona maintains its leading position. Betis' next match will be crucial to try to recover positions and avoid a drop in the standings.