Barcelona vs Villarreal: Poor Refereeing Decisions, Poor Form

Barcelona barely managed a 1-1 draw against Villarreal, and there were two clear culprits: a completely uninspired opening hour of the match and a terrible refereeing performance.

Referee Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva had a nightmare performance. While you could argue about many nitpicks or wrong decisions (for both teams, even), his failure to call a penalty on Bruno Soriano twice for blatant handballs was far below the normal range.

Barcelona’s defense was stretched, the midfield lacked spark, and the forwards lacked their magic. Lionel Messi was often forced into hopeless dribbles. Neymar still does not have his scoring boots. Luis Suárez’s touch often let him down and his scoring is also not at its best. And when results are not coming as expected and the team is below par, it is absolutely fair to put blame on the coach as well.

That does not excuse a poor refereeing display, however. Bruno’s handball was absolutely blatant and should have been a red card and a penalty.

The fact that it happened again minutes later beggars belief.