Barcelona grab late equaliser at Betis but 'ghost goal' refereeing blunder prompts more calls for video officiating
A clear goal was not given for Barcelona as they dropped two more points in the title race
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Your support makes all the difference.Barcelona may not have played well enough for all three points in a disappointing display at Real Betis that not only leaves them a point behind arch rivals Real Madrid, who have two games in hand, but are on the cusp of falling three points behind surprise title challengers Sevilla, should they win against Espanyol on Sunday afternoon.
And yet, that will not be the post-match focus in Spain, where debate will once again rage about video and goal-line technology after the reigning La Liga champions were denied a clear goal by a refereeing blunder.
Barca had goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen to thank for not losing this game by a couple of goals. His heroics, however, only held out their hosts until the 75th minute when Alex Alegria gave Betis a much-merited lead.
Luis Suarez's last-minute equaliser salvaged the 1-1 for Luis Enrique's side but only after two chances had seemingly been cleared off the line by Betis defenders - one, on replay, which was a clear distance inside the goal.
Neymar was no sooner in the changing rooms post-match than he had sent out a Snapchat to his followers, laughing wryly at the injustice while also claiming a penalty that was ignored.
Paranoia over refereeing bias is one of the more tiresome characteristics of the clasico rivalry, and Barcelona's noisy media will not let this lie.
But the bigger issues for Luis Enrique must be addressed on the training ground this week.
Ivan Rakitic failed to provide the necessary fluency and direction in the Sergio Busquets role, filling in for one of world football's most irreplaceable players. Busquets' own underperformance this season has been one of the reasons behind their (relative) struggles but this is a side that is struggling to pull together all of their elements despite a glittering, superstar cast.
It is one of the reasons that Luis Enrique has placed his own future in such doubt. There is a feeling that he can't get his pieces to meld together right now. They are struggling to click.
But these are complex things to resolve, questions of nuance and technical precision.
In a world of black and white, of over the line or not, there is only one issue that will fill the pages of newspapers in both Barcelona and Madrid over the coming days.
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