Messi vs the referees part 8

As I've said numerous times before, Messi has been hurt by refereeing decisions a vast amount of times, so this series will be very long, as you can see by the fact we're now in part 8. So without further ado, let's look at more refereeing decisions against Messi.

The first one we'll be seeing happened against Real Madrid in the 2017 Spanish Super Cup, where Ramos fouled Messi inside the box but no foul was given.

Going forward to the second leg against Sevilla in the 2020/21 Copa del Rey, there was a penalty not given after Messi shot on target and Ocampos blocked it with his hands.

In the 2019/20 La Liga season, in an away game against Real Betis, there was a penalty from Bartra to Messi not given.

In the 2012/13 La Liga season, playing against Real Betis away, Messi had a 1v1 chance but it was wrongfully canceled because of a non-existent offside.

And last but not least, playing against Athletic Bilbao away in the 2018/19 La Liga season, there was this brutal stomp on Messi's leg by Yeray which wasn't given a red card for.

That is all for part 8 of this series. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs the referees part 7

We've now reached part 7 of this series, with many more errors ready to be seen here, so let's get down to business and continue.

The first error we'll be seeing happened against Sevilla at home in the 2020/21 La Liga season, where Diego Carlos clearly fouled Messi inside the box but didn't get punished for it.

In the same season, against Real Madrid at home, Casemiro clearly fouled him inside the box, but once again no punishment was given for it.

Going back to the 2019/20 La Liga season, playing away against Sevilla, Diego Carlos made a tough tackle on Messi but wasn't given a red card.

In the same season, playing at home against Celta, the referee made up a non-existent foul from Messi and gave him a yellow card. From that free-kick, Celta got the equalizer, but Barcelona fortunately won the game 4-1 afterward.

And last but not least, there's this clear penalty from Wakaso to Messi, when Barcelona faced Alavés at home in the 2017/18 La Liga season.

That is all for this part of the series, so I hope you liked this entry and I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs the referees part 6

It's time for part 6 of the series. There is still much more to cover about refereeing errors against Messi, so let's go straight to them.

The first one we'll be seeing is a poorly canceled 1v1 for Messi in the 2017-18 Copa del Rey final. It could have easily been a goal for him but the linesman called a non-existent offside.

The next error we'll be seeing happened in the recent El Clásico loss in April. Nacho made a bad tackle towards Messi inside the box but nothing happened.

And continuing with that game, there was a foul from Lucas Vázquez to Messi previous to Real Madrid's first goal.

Going way back to the 1st leg of the 2005/06 UCL R16, there's this brutal foul from Del Horno to Messi, but no card was given (not even a foul was called). He later received a red card for another attack on Messi.

And to end this part, there's this awful challenge from Pennant to Messi in the 2006/07 UCL season (2nd leg), which should have been punished with a red card.

That's all for the 6th part of this series. I hope you liked this entry, and as always I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs the referees part 5

With no more content regarding goals wrongfully canceled against Messi, I'll expand on this series including cards wrongfully given, penalties not given, penalties that should have been repeated or aggressions against Messi not sanctioned with a red card. So without further ado, let's look at these decisions.

First off is his red card against Chile in the 2019 Copa América 3rd place playoff spot. In his confrontation with Medel he did nothing wrong, just stood his ground as Medel bumped his chest into him, but the referee still gave him the red card alongside Medel.

Next up is a clear aggression from Pulido to Messi that could have easily been sanctioned with a red card, when Barça faced Huesca at home this season. The referee, however, didn't even signal a foul.

Once again, Medel and Messi meet up in this entry, this time for the 2015 Copa América final. There, Medel kicked Messi in the stomach with no intention of going to the ball, which should have been a red card.

Going forward to 2017, Messi faced Uruguay for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. Giménez made a tough tackle at Messi which should have been a red card, but the referee only gave a yellow card.

And last but not least, Messi's penalty miss against PSG should have been retaken due to an invasion from a PSG player. He later benefitted from it too, another reason why it should have been retaken.

That's the end of part 5. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs the referees part 4

It's now time for the 4th installment of this series. There's not much else to say so I will proceed to show even more refereeing decisions made against Messi.

First up, we'll be starting with a game from the 2011/12 season. This was against Getafe away. A goal from Messi is canceled due to an offside from Keita, but the reality is that Míchel (a Getafe player) gave the ball to Keita, which cancels the offside and makes the goal valid.

The next error is his wrongfully disallowed goal against Roma (home) in the 2015/16 Champions League season. The linesman said that Neymar was offside, but as it can be seen in this picture, he wasn't. He then assisted Messi's goal before the play was invalidated.

For the 3rd error, we're going back to the 2014/15 season against Celta away. Messi made a great run and dribbled past the goalkeeper to score, but the play was canceled due to an offside. But as it can be seen in the picture, he's not offside.

Next up is his disallowed goal against Getafe away in the 2008/09 season. Messi scores after a rebound form the goalkeeper but it's called off due to an offside. In the video, it can be seen that he's level with the Getafe defender, so it was wrongfully dissallowed.

And for last, in an international friendly in 2013 against Sweden he made a good touch and chipped the ball over the goalkeeper, who cleared the ball with a bicycle kick, but as it can be seen in the video, the ball went in.

That's all I have for this part, and as a side note, since I don't have any more disallowed goals, for the next parts I'll count aggressions on Messi not sanctioned or penalties not given due to fouls on Messi. I hope you liked this entry, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs the referees part 3

Here we are once again with another part of Messi vs the referees. There's not much to say, so I'll get on with some more refereeing errors done against Messi.

The first one we'll see is his poorly annulled goal against Levante in the 2015/16 league season. As it can be seen in the video, Messi was clearly not offside, but the goal was still canceled. It was at the beginning of the game when they were tied 0-0, but they later won 2-0.

The next one is another goal wrongfully canceled against Levante, this time in the 2014/15 league season. Messi was once again clearly onside as it can be seen in the video.

The 3rd error we'll be seeing in this part came in the same season, this time against Elche in the Copa del Rey. In the video, it can be seen that he's onside. Thankfully, they passed the round and then went on to win the Copa del Rey.

Next up, there's his canceled goal against Albacete in the 2004/05 season, which would have been the first goal in his career. In the photo, it can be seen that he wasn't offside, but fortunately, he scored shortly after.

And last but not least, it's his canceled goal against Deportivo La Coruña in the 2014/15 season. It can be seen in the video that he wasn't offside. The game ended up in a 2-2 draw with 2 goals from Messi.

That is all for the 3rd part of this series. I hoped you liked it, and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs the referees part 2

As I said in the first part of this series, it's going to be long since there's been so many poor refereeing decisions against Messi. And thus, the second part is here.

The first decision I'll show is his recent wrongfully annuled goal against Alavés. The game was only 1-0 for Barça at the time, but they decided to cancel it due to a non-existent offside from Griezmann.

Next up is his canceled goal against Napoli in the 2019/20 UCL R16 second leg. Messi ended Napoli's hopes with a 3-0 goal, but it was somehow annulled because of a supposed handball (not the case at all, it was a chest touch). Even wth VAR it was canceled, but thankfully he won a penalty not long after and the game ended 3-1 for Barça, going through to the QF.

Next up is his canceled goal against Paraguay in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Despite being perfectly legitimate, VAR annulled the goal because of a foul 27 seconds and 8 passes earlier. Totally ridiculous.

Now we'll go to 2012. Despite scoring 91 goals in a single calendar year, there was one goal which was wrongfully disallowed, which happened against Sevilla in the 2011/12 La Liga season. In the video you can see a Sevilla player at the back which putting Messi in an onside position, but it was canceled anyways.

And finally, there's his game against Sevilla in 2011. A good free-kick slotted in by Messi is wrongfully disallowed due to a non-existent foul from Busquets.

That is all for the 2nd part of this series. I hoped you liked it and as always, I'll see you in the next blog.

Messi vs the referees part 1

Messi has been harmed numerous times due to referees' decisions, and thus, I have decided to make a series of decisions made against Messi. The first part will cover some annulled goals against Messi, so without further ado, let's dive into it.

We'll first look at one of the most obvious but also had a big impact, which was against Real Betis away in the 2016/17 La Liga season. Despite clearly entering the goal, Alejandro Hernández Hernández didn't give it. The game ended 1-1 and Real Madrid later won the league.

Another obvious one, though less impactful, was against Valencia away in the 2017/18 La Liga season. Messi made a shot straight at the keeper and since he couldn't catch it properly, it went through him and entered the net, but Ignacio Villanueva gave no goal. The game ended 1-1, but Barcelona later won the league anyways by 14 points.

Going back to 2006, specifically to the 2006 World Cup R16 game against Mexico, Messi scored a goal in the dying minutes of the game to give Argentina the lead 2-1, but linesman Matthias Arnet gave a non-existent offside from Pablo Aimar which invalidated the play.

Going now to the title-defining game of the 2013/14 La Liga season against Atlético Madrid at home, Messi was wrongfully disallowed of a goal because of an offside, even though the ball came from Juanfran which invalidates the offside. This would have won Barcelona the league, and perhaps the Supercopa de España at the beginning of the next season.

And to end this 1st part, there's his goal wrongfully disallowed against Arsenal in the first leg of the 2010/11 UCL R16, even though he was onside. They lost 2-1 that game, but thankfully Messi made a masterclass against them in the second leg and then went on to win the tournament.

That is all for the 1st part. As I said there's a lot to cover so I'll continue in the 2nd part. But until then, I'll see you in the next blog.