Ref Review: Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal – Busacca Bias or Barca Brilliance?
Arsenal. Were they a) outclassed or b) robbed against Barcelona? Just Football’s resident referee Joe Tompkins offers a ref’s perspective:
If you had read some of the tweets from Arsenal fans that appeared on my timeline towards the end of Barcelona v Arsenal, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought referee Massimo Busacca had been paid by someone to get Barcelona into the quarter finals. Obviously this didn’t happen. But is Busacca as bad a ref as people are making out? And was he to blame for Arsenal’s defeat? Or would they have had no chance of going through anyway?
A dubious red card, a penalty for Barca, a penalty not given to Barca, a bust-up towards the end of the first half and a manager and a player charged with improper conduct towards the match officials. It was hardly an easy night for the man from Switzerland. However he is a referee who should be used to big games. He has been a FIFA referee for 11 years and has officiated in 2 World Cups, a Confederations Cup, a European Championship, the 2009 Champions League Final and the 2007 UEFA Cup Final. He is regarded as the best referee in Switzerland and one of the best in Europe, but did he show it at the Nou Camp?
Major incident #1
It was clear from the outset that this was going to be a tough game to referee. Arsenal seemed to go in with a tough tackling mindset and the first late challenge came after just 50 seconds from Gael Clichy. The referee first came under the spotlight from commentators and fans when he decided not to give a penalty to Barcelona as Diaby bought down Messi. It wasn’t clear whether it was inside or outside the box but the referee waved play on anyway. Looking at the replay it was inside the box and it is hard to work out why he didn’t give the foul when he was positioned little more than a few yards away. Messi did go down a little theatrically but there was definitely contact.
Major incident #2
The next major involvement for the referee came shortly before half time when tempers flared after a couple of strong challenges. The referee did well to calm it down fairly quickly, but perhaps could have dished out some cards with Abidal and Valdes both appearing to grab Arsenal players around the neck. One of these Arsenal players was Robin van Persie and he struggled to keep his temper in check as he foolishly swung an arm out while jostling for the ball with a defender. He was cautioned by the referee and he was lucky to still be on the pitch.
Major incident #3
It wasn’t too long before van Persie did receive his marching orders though. Around 10 minutes into the second half the Dutch striker was flagged offside but failed to hear/react to the whistle and took his shot anyway. The referee did not hesitate in showing van Persie his second yellow card, followed by a red. I’m yet to hear from someone who agrees with the decision. Not only is it hard enough to hear the whistle with 95,000 Barcelona fans screaming, but given the fact that when the whistle was blown van Persie was in the process of controlling the ball getting ready to shoot, it would have been harder to stop and not shoot then it was to hear the whistle in the first place.
Going by the letter of the law, which doesn’t specify how long a referee should allow players to carry on play before they should realise, it could be a correct decision if Busacca interpreted the shot as an act of dissent or timewasting. Either way this is incredibly harsh and, if Arsene Wenger is to be believed, even the UEFA assessors thought it was harsh.
Major incident #4
There was only one more major incident during the 90 minutes and that was the penalty being awarded to Barcelona. In contrast to the van Persie decision, I’m yet to hear from anyone who thinks it was not a penalty. But there are a number of people who think Laurent Koscielny, the defender who gave the penalty, should have been given a second yellow card for his foul in the box. And I would tend to agree with those people.
It was a clumsy challenge that you shouldn’t be making if you are a) in your own area or b) already on a yellow card. To do it when you are both is almost criminal. He had been on a yellow card since early on after making a few tough tackles in the opening stages. To send someone off for something as trivial as van Persie’s act and not for Koscielny’s is inconsistent. If Koscielny was a Barcelona player bringing an Arsenal player down, I’m sure I’d be getting a lot more angry tweets from Arsenal fans.
Busacca is not one to shy away from controversy, indeed he was once banned for 3 games by the Swiss FA for showing his middle finger to fans after crowd trouble delayed a game he was refereeing. Despite this, he is still considered one of the best referees in Europe and I doubt that opinion of him will change after one bad match.
To answer the question I posed at the start, it was highly unlikely Arsenal would have stopped Barcelona with 11 or even 12 players on the pitch, but after the own goal went in perhaps they could have come back into the game. However a team with 0 shots and just over 30% possession aren’t going to win any game, let alone one against the best team in the world at the moment.
Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Champions League, FC Barcelona, Referees and Rules, Robin Van PersieShare This Post!
About Joe Tompkins
I am an FA Level 1 coach and a Level 7 Referee. I wrote about Paraguay during the 2010 World Cup and hope to write about a variety of topics during the next season. Follow me on Twitter @JoeTheRef
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Writing in as a Tottenham fan who doesn’t exactly love Arsenal, but is able to see beyond my allegiances. No complaints about any of the referee’s decisions during the game, except for the Van Persie red card. It was a tough game; in almost every instance, his decisions were understandable and legitimate. But the Van Persie sending off has to be one of, if not the most ridiculous sending off I have ever seen for several reasons: (i) the noise factor – surely if there is any question on this front, you have to give the player the benefit of the doubt; (ii) the time factor – one second between whistle and shot – surely again, if there is any question about the player having sufficient time to react to a whistle (assuming he heard it), you have to give the player the benefit of the doubt; (iii) the occasion factor – it was the first time Van Persie had been through on goal in the game – if he wasn’t sure whether he had heard the referee’s whistle or not, he was absolutely right to shoot – in fact, he would have been derided for stopping if he was not offside; (iv) the stage in the match factor – there was 35 minutes still to go – I am struggling to think of any other game I have ever seen when players deliberately waste time ten minutes into the second half; (v) Van Persie’s action and reaction – he didn’t look at the linesman so highly unlikely he saw he saw the flag, and his reaction immediately afterwards and in the post-match interviews is so strong, it is almost impossible for a neutral observer to question his genuineness; (vi) the alternative scenario factor – if nothing had happened after the incident beyond a free kick to Barcelona for the offside, I don’t believe anyone would have questioned it; (vii) the spirit of the law – the underlying reason for red cards is to stop foul play and particularly violent conduct – this was such a literal read of the rules, it missed the point. I’m angry about it not because I care about Arsenal – I don’t – but because I care about football, and a great referee made not simply a poor decision, but an absolutely appalling decision in a very important game
messi foul a penalty -no
the commentator even said there was no contact
vp red card was ridiculous
was referee to blame -yes
barca win was tarnished by referee, arsenal didnt really have a chance second half
marcherano tackle on wilshere was worse than wilshere tackle on alves
no consistency
i love soccer but hate when games rely on shit referees
REF RUINS GAME
i cannot understand why its a red i don’t even think Barcelona players were asking ref to give it
hes either retarded or deliberately effecting outcome of the game
hate the Arsenal but hate dodgy refs more
barca would have smashed them either way
Yes its true,i know the referee’s red card was bad….but there was no way arsenal was going to win that match with 10men,3o%posesion and 0 shorts on target at camp nou..it was imposible if even the red card was was not given
I agree that the red card was very harsh and gave Barcelona that extra surge of momentum (as if they didn’t already have enough) to go on and win. I am categorically NOT a fan of Van Persie; a great player but he has that bad side to his game with dirty tackles i.e. Alves push/slap…however, it was clearly a genuine point that he made with the noise level; I have been to the Nou Camp & it wasn’t as full as the other night, nor as heated an affair and the noise was tremendous.
I think in a way that this issue with the red card has done Arsenal a favour…the statistics don’t lie i.e. 30% possession and zero shots and arguably the 2nd best passing team in the world has been taken to the cleaners by the outright, by a million miles no.1 passing team but without the VP controversy, Arsenal would be a lot more red-faced as they would have no excuses at all.
Arsenal fans shouldn’t be so down-hearted…Barcelona made Real Madrid look like schoolboys earlier this season with a similar performance and winning 5-0 in the process. They would bend any team in the world over a bench at the Nou Camp…fact!
Barcelona= ‘More than a club’? This is the biggest joke i have ever heard.
No yellow card for any Mparca players for 90minutes?
that is the joke..
They should probably rename ‘More than 11 players in the field’
So if we read the post Van Persie should basically already have been sent off in the 1st half, for hitting Alves (and for targetting Messi’s ankle). Thanks to mistakes of the Swiss referee, he was still on the pitch. If any team can complain about the referee on Tuesday, it’s Barcelona – also because of the Messi penalty and the Koscielny red card that were both not given.
Regarding the red card. There are 3 ways to know you’re offside: 1 you just know it because you’re perfectly aware of your position and that of the defenders – 2 you see the flag going up – 3 you hear the whistle. 1 Van Persie knew it because he was two metres off-side. 2 He must have seen the flag because the pass came from that side and the flag went up while Van Persie’s face was turned in the direction of the linesman. 3 Arsenal fans have been telling there was no atmosphere at all at the stadium but just in that second there were “95.000 people cheering and you couldn’t hear anything”. Sure. Seems all the other players heard the whistle at that moment. Seems in all other actions of the game all players heard the whistle. Seems in all other games at the Camp Nou all players have been hearing the whistle for years. From his ridiculous shot with his right foot – while he could have decided the tie there – I think it’s clear he very well knew it. But to admit that afterwards is of course suicide in front of your fans. Van Persie was losing the plot already in the first half, it was clear he was getting frustrated because he couldn’t do anything, Wenger should have taken him off. He knew he was off-side and then a yellow card stays a very harsh decision, but at least a correct one according to the rules.
Apart from that, Barcelona can claim a goal (Messi) plus a penalty on Pedro (which should also have been red for Koscielny) in the 1st leg. And I’m still not talking about 2 hand balls in the Arsenal area (Djourou and Arshavin) and Song who could have been given 4 yellow cards in the first half there.
Conclusion: thanks to the bad refereeing, this was an exciting tie until the last minute because if they (both the Italian as the Swiss) had done a proper job, it would already have been decided in London.
Inter beat Barcelona to advance to the final, they had 0 shots to barca’s 15! they had 24% ball possession to barca’s 76%! So Yes we could’ve still won on aggregate or away goals, maybe not on the night!
Lets not forget decisions that went against Arsenal as well! The clear grabbing of the neck by abidal and valdes! Some refs would have given straight reds for those but obviously not Busacca! Yes Barca had more shots but more shots does not necessarily mean a victory! It took 46 minutes for barcelona to get a goal against 11! Who is to say how much longer it would’ve taken for them to find a second? Most of the shots in the first half weren’t great until the goal, most of barca’s great shots came after arsenal were at 10 men! Had it stayed 11 vs. 11 the koscielny incident probably wouldn’t have materialised!
You Barca and anti arsenal fans make me laugh. At the emirates if you rewind the second half the ageing barca midfield couldnt keep up barca hardly dominated the second half (PASSING IN THE CENTRE CIRCLE IS NOT CALLED DOMINATION). Firstly why wasn;t Eric Abidal sent off for grabbing van persie’s throat, rewind back to Arsenal v. Newcastle and Diaby doing THE EXACT SAME THNG. ofcourse RVP will want to get revenge who wouldn’t and he did with alves. Possesion and zero shots on goal dont mean anything if it did Arsenal would always beat Chelsea and Man Utd but but they dnt its who is more effective and the last time i checked it was 1-1, Arsenal were going through PERIOD. REF RAN IN AND pretty much handed Barca the match. FULL STOP. if you want to tlak consisttency then eric abidal shouldnt have been on the pitch for grabbing RVP’s throat why didnt busacca ran 50m and send him off? GO FIGURE UEFA did the same thing agianst Chelsea a few years ago and all this is to stop english teams dominating like they did when they had all top 4 in the semi’s!!
Jeez, paranoid much?
No mention of the clear penalty for the foul on Messi I see, nor the fact Koscielny could easily have seen red for the penalty he conceded. Lovely stuff.