In the 39th minute of the Barcelona-Real Sociedad match in the quarter-finals of the King's Cup, yesterday, Wednesday, the referee made a decision that constituted a decisive turn in the match.
Referee Gil Monzano issued a direct red card in the face of Bryce Mendes, the Basque player, who completed more than half of the match with 10 players.
And about this decision, the former Spanish international referee, Perez Borrell, and the arbitration expert on the Spanish “Marca” radio, says, “The mistake was clear and the referee’s decision was correct. After consulting the video technology referee (VAR).
BRAIS MENDEZ IS SENT OFF 🔴 pic.twitter.com/WN7WtxrNJw
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 25, 2023
Barcelona had qualified for the semi-finals of the King's Cup after defeating its guest Sociedad with a clean goal.
French star Ousmane Dembele scored the only goal of the match for Barcelona in the 52nd minute.
Barcelona took advantage of the numerical shortage with the start of the second half, and Dembele scored the only goal of the match after he penetrated into the area on the right side, and hit a beautiful ball in the near narrow corner in the 52nd minute.
The Catalan club - the record holder in the number of competition titles (31), the last of which was in 2021 - tightened its control over the match without succeeding in doubling its progress.
Seeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 🏍️💨 pic.twitter.com/bD9HLKCquG
- FC Barcelona (@fcbarcelona_ara) January 25, 2023
And German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved Barcelona from resorting to extension, after he made a massive save in the third minute of stoppage time to substitute John-Andre Olassagaty's shot.
Sociedad, who was missing playmaker David Silva and Mikel Merino through injury, did not rise to the level that enabled it to finish third in the league this season and achieve a series of 7 consecutive victories in all competitions.
Tonight, Real Madrid will meet its neighbor Atletico Madrid at the “Santiago Bernabeu” stadium, while Valencia will play with Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona remained on the right path towards its second title in the era of Xavi, after finally winning the Spanish Super Cup at the expense of Real Madrid 3-1 in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, earlier this month.