AFP Ahmad Salah
Oct 18, 2026 05:19+08:00
Translated by Mockery
Of Yamal's card: Betis star asks whether the same decisions would be taken if they favoured Barcelona?
Real Betis vs Barcelona
Real Betis · Barcelona · LaLiga · G. Lo Celso · L. Yamal · Spain · Argentina
New controversy ignites the La Liga title race
Real Betis midfielder Giovani Lo Celso has let rip at the refereeing in his side's defeat to Barcelona on Saturday.
Barcelona won 5-2 in the ninth round of the Spanish league, a game that swung one way then the other and threw up a string of contentious calls.
Having seen his own goal chalked off and team-mate Facundo Bernal sent off with a straight red, Lo Celso questioned whether the laws are applied the same way for everyone.
Double refereeing standards?
The Argentine was reacting to the disallowing of his overhead kick in added time at the end of the first half, ruled out for a handball by team-mate Cucho Hernandez.
Asked whether the rules are applied differently when Barcelona are involved, Lo Celso sidestepped the question but delivered a pointed reply: "I can talk about the specific incidents I experienced on the pitch. In the end, Cucho's touch may or may not be an offence, but there are a lot of things happening in that incident. There's a rebound, the ball goes up, and there's a challenge for the ball with the head... I really don't know."
He added: "But if it had been Barcelona who scored the goal, would it also have been disallowed for that offence? I don't know the truth, but what I'm saying is that there's a header challenge and a lot of things happen in a match."
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"A questionable decision": the equation has changed completely
Lo Celso called the decision to rule out the goal "questionable" and insisted it should have stood, then turned to what it did to his side's heads, telling the website Estadio Deportivo: "It is a pivotal moment. Going from being level in the first half to trailing 2-1 changes the equation completely... and after we cut the gap to 3-2, I think the sending-off was what effectively ended the match."
Red card controversy
Lo Celso wasn't letting the sending-off slide. Betis went down to ten men, and the Argentine pointed straight at the gulf in punishment handed out to two players involved in the same clash: Bernal off, Lamine Yamal booked.
"It was just a collision between two players. One of them is given a straight red card, while the other receives a yellow. But in the end, these are details. What I hold on to is the effort of the team, which competed until the end, despite facing the best side in Europe at the moment," he said.
La Cartuja had already made its feelings known. Betis supporters spent the evening venting at a run of calls they felt tipped the scales Barcelona's way.
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