Barcelona and Spain captain Sergio Busquets was absolutely furious about the officials' decision on Kylian Mbappe's controversial offside winning goal in the UEFA Nations League final last Sunday.
Match official, Anthony Taylor, explained to the players the rule at hand. Barcelona defender Eric Garcia's attempt on the ball — despite making minimal contact — deliberately caused a new phase of play. This controversial explanation led to the goal being allowed, and ultimately, handed France the 2-1 victory to win their first UEFA Nations League title.
Via Ewan Garcia of Metro UK:
“The referee told us that Eric Garcia wanted to play the ball and that kills the offside,” Busquets told Spanish television after the game.
“But he wanted to play the ball because the ball would have reached Mbappe who was offside! It doesn’t make sense!”
MARCA's refereeing expert Alfonso Perez Burrull also chimed in on the decision to let the goal stand. He didn't understand the decision whatsoever and even questioned why UEFA never showed an offside line in the replay of the goal to indicate the position of Mbappe in regard to Spain's defensive line.
Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is Mbappé about a yard offside here? pic.twitter.com/C6PYeWWbb1
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) October 10, 2021
Chelsea captain, Cesar Azpilicueta, further criticized the officials after the match, emphasizing that Anthony Taylor did not take control of the situation as he never even bothered checking the VAR monitor to make sure the decision was correct.
In the end, it just wasn't meant to be for the Spanish side. It was definitely a match filled with questionable decisions, but Mbappe showed why is he tipped to be the future of football. While France once again proved to be a formidable side among the best in the world.
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