FC Barcelona lost their first official match of the season against Paris Saint-Germain (1-2). In the most anticipated match of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26, Hansi Flick's team fell by a goal from Gonçalo Ramos in the 90th minute.
Although Luis Enrique's team finished the match better, Michael Oliver's refereeing clearly favored them in Montjuïc. The English referee let several cautions pass for a Parisian team that ended up with fewer cautioned players (2) than Barça despite committing 14 fouls (a couple more than the 'culés').
The precedents for the 'azulgrana' team were not favorable, with only one victory in four matches refereed by the man from Ashington. On Wednesday, Oliver's criteria for cautioning and sanctioning fouls ended up clearly harming Flick's team with two very controversial decisions, one of them with half an hour left to conclude the match.
Penalty not called on Zabarnyi against Eric García in the first half
The first controversy of the night in Montjuïc took place in the 27th minute. Eric García fell inside the area while disputing a ball with central defender Illya Zabarnyi, after a corner favorable to the Catalans from the right side.
The '6' arrived a second late and managed to graze the foot of the 'azulgrana' defender, but Oliver waved play on, which led to a lateral foul by Rashford on Mbaye that was very dangerous for Luis Enrique's team.
The VAR, led by the Austrian Jarred Gillett, ratified Oliver's decision not to sanction a penalty on Eirc. Zabarnyi's challenge, at the very least, left doubts for the review, but there was no major complaint from the Barça players either.
Red card forgiven to Nuno Mendes after a clear foul on Lamine Yamal
Afterwards, in the 60th minute, Michael Oliver decided, inexplicably, to forgive a clear yellow card to Nundo Mendes after bringing down Lamine Yamal at the edge of the area. In addition to being a very dangerous attack, the Portuguese was already cautioned at the time of committing the foul on the '10' 'culé'.
The player from Mataró had generated the yellow card for Nuno in the 44th minute, anticipating the full-back in a divided ball in the center of the field. The defender made a very clear charge and did not even dispute the card. Both fouls should have cost the '25' from Paris a red card, but Oliver kept the second yellow card by his own decision. In this case, the VAR could not intervene.
Illegal goal by Gonçalo Ramos validated by the VAR
The main controversy of the day, by far the most serious, came in the 90th minute. Achraf Hakimi took advantage of a pass from Vitinha to break down the right and threw another filtered pass that left Gonçalo Ramos one-on-one against Szczesny, taking advantage of the usual advancement of the 'azulgrana' defense.
The Portuguese international shot 'Tek' with a left-footed shot. The linesman considered that the '9' was enabled at the time of the Moroccan's pass, a decision ratified by the VAR. However, the frame of the transmission used by the semi-automatic was not correct.
At the instant of the full-back's strike, Ramos was half a step ahead of the line of the ball, so the goal should have been disallowed. With this goal, PSG took the 3 points and their third consecutive victory in Catalonia against Barça.
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