Guillamón and his wild tackle on Pedri: he could have injured him and went unpunished

It was barely the 8th minute of the match between Valencia and Barça corresponding to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey when controversy arose. Hugo Guillamón made a wild, late, and disproportionate tackle on Pedri, catching the Canary with a stamp on his supporting foot and leaving him lying on the grass of Mestalla.

Inexplicably, the main referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias, who was a meter away from the action, deliberately decided not to call a foul and only stopped the match to check the physical condition of the Tenerife player, who escaped a serious injury because he had just lifted his right foot to make a pass.

The VAR did not intervene and spared Guillamón a red card

While Pedri was being treated, the game continued, waiting for the VAR to intervene and invite the referee to review the play. However, and in an unusual manner, the entire refereeing body chose to ignore Guillamón's brutal kick, and the player did not see even a yellow card when, according to the rules, he should have been sent off.

The seriousness of the foul was such that Iturralde González, former referee and referee analyst for Cadena SER and Diario AS, stated that "in my opinion, it is a rough and serious play. He goes to the ground with excessive force with the studs forward and at a considerable height. The referee is so close that the perspective of seeing the two bodies and the impact is always less. Those plays are much better seen from 10-15 meters away. In my opinion, the VAR should have alerted him."

Nevertheless, once again the main referee and the VAR official, who in Mestalla was the Madrilenian Valentín Pizarro Gómez, harmed Barça with an incomprehensible decision. Fortunately, Pedri was able to return and continue in the match, which ultimately ended in a Blaugrana victory, who should have played with one more player since the 8th minute of the match.