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Controversial Spanish referee Mateu Lahoz commented on the penalty incident between Victor Osimhen and Pau Cubarsi in the Champions League clash between Napoli and Barcelona.
Barcelona knocked Napoli out of the Champions League last night thanks to a 3-1 victory, but the outcome could have been different, as the Partenopeans had a seemingly legitimate penalty call in the 50th minute of the game when 17-year-old Pau Cubarsi clipped Victor Osimhen in the box. However, the Dutch referee on the night, Danny Desmond Makkelie, deemed the tackle legal, and his decision was upheld by the VAR.
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Mateo Lahoz’s explanation
The popular Spanish match arbitrator, Mateo Lahoz, was quizzed about the incident after the match, and although he admitted a penalty could have been given, he commended the decision.
"Cubarsí's tackle on Osimhen could perhaps be called as a penalty kick, but not in the Champions League. That's what I like about the competition; I hope we can learn that in Spain," he said, according to Barca Universal.
Cubarsi’s contact on Osimhen was minimal, but contact still, and according to Lahoz, incidents like that are ruled as penalties in the Spanish top flight, so much so that it has earned a term, ‘penaltitos’, directly translated into English as little penalties.
Champions League officiating
The officiating in the Champions League is a lot more lenient than LALIGA in incidents like that, and Lahoz argues that it is the right call.
Osimhen himself has been a beneficiary of this ‘UCL-type’ officiating, as in the first-leg of the clash, he made slight contact with Barcelona’s Inigo Martinez, which saw the Basque centre-back go to ground, leaving Osimhen unmarked for the equaliser.
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Martinez and his teammates protested the goal on the grounds of a foul on the 34-year-old, but the referee was not having it, and the goal was allowed to stand. Officials in the Champions League usually require more ‘serious’ contact to call fouls that could change the outcome of a match.
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