From our special correspondent in Milan,

So it's official, there are humans on this Earth that Luis Enrique does not hate.

Asked about what has been considered for several hours as a scandal by our Spanish colleagues, always in the measure, namely the goal of the victory of Kylian Mbappé in the 80th, the coach of La Roja was satisfied with a dismissal in touch that the best backs of rugby would not have denied.

“I know you want me to talk, but I won't play that game,” Enrique said at a press conference.

I've been coaching for ten years and no one has heard me speak badly about referees.

"

Its players, on the other hand, were less discreet, and we can understand them.

Let's put our insatiable bad faith aside for once and set the context.

Kylian Mbappé receives the ball in a slight offside position, leaves to challenge Unai Simon and conclude the mess as he knows how to do so well.

Bravo to him for not being disturbed by his potential irregular position as Karim Benzema was able to do in his duel with the Spanish goalkeeper at the very start of the match, close the parenthesis.

"I find it hard to understand it"

A good two-minute VAR-check follows. The referee is surrounded by Spanish players, who await good news live from the ice cream truck stationed outside San Siro. This will not happen. Amazement, the goal is validated without knowing why. The theory of "the angle of view of the VAR referees which perhaps differs from ours in the stands" was evoked on the neighboring desk, without much conviction. Even Sergio Busquets, however not the last to flirt with the gray areas of the rules of football, is stunned.

“The referee told us that Eric Garcia wanted to play the ball and that cancels the offside. But he wanted to play the ball because the ball would have reached Mbappé who was offside! It does not make sense ! Same version of the facts with Cesar Azpilicueta. “The offside is clear, but the referee says Eric Garcia has the opportunity to play (the ball). He doesn't make the decision, it's the VAR that decides and that, I find it hard to understand. "To make it clear, Eric Garcia touches the ball or expresses the intention to do so and, therefore, puts Kylian Mbappé back into play. It may sound crazy, but it is possible if we apply this rule in force for a good decade.

Busquets: "the referee told us that Eric Garcia wanted to play the ball and that kills the offside ... But he wanted to play the ball because the ball would have reached Mbappe who was offside! It doesn't make sense!"

pic.twitter.com/imhepp236Z

- Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) October 10, 2021

What does the regulation say, exactly?

"A player in an offside position who receives a ball deliberately played by an opponent, including with the hand or arm, is not considered to gain any advantage from his position, except in the case of a deliberate rescue by an opponent. opponent, can we read in the regulations of the Ifab (International Football Association Board). Making a rescue consists of intercepting, or attempting to intercept, the ball heading towards the goal with any part of the body except the hands or arms (except the goalkeeper in his own penalty area). "

Basically, and as explained on his Facebook account the former Italian referee Luca Marelli, who specifies in the preamble that he is not a fan of the said rule, if Eric Garcia had involuntarily touched the ball, for example with his heel because he was running towards his goal with his back to the game, Mbappé would have been considered offside.

But in this case, the referee considers that there is voluntary intervention of the Spaniard, and that this creates a new action, in which the number 10 of the Blues is not in an irregular position.

Application of an absurd rule

The absurdity being, as Busquets noticed, that it is a player in an offside position that pushes Garcia to commit an act that puts the attacker back in play. If the defender of La Roja had remained like a stud to wait for Mbappé to do his job, there would have been no goal.

But when, in the heat of the moment and without a side view of the game, can a defender have the lucidity to lose interest in the game, with all the consequences that can have if he misjudges the situation (here , let a defender go one-on-one with the goalkeeper).

Conclusion: the decision is understandable in view of a rule that should be reviewed.

And so we can hardly blame the Spaniards for complaining.

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