“It was clearly offside at the World Cup, but today I’m left asking myself, was it offside? I don’t know,” were the words of Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, after Marco Asensio‘s 81st minute goal was overruled by VAR during Sunday’s Clasico.
The Italian coach has fostered a respect from the Azulgrana for his polite demeanour, especially with regards to his choice of words in press conferences, however, this particular comment provoked a bewildered reaction in the Barcelona camp.
The Catalan club didn’t hide their bafflement at hearing the Real Madrid boss’s comments. The club responded, “He is an intelligent person, but he made a mistake.”
Barcelona could not get their heads around why the veteran manager had criticized a fairly clear offside ruling, that was decided through the use of robust technology. “He was wrong because there is no debate here,” said the club.
Sources close to the newspaper confirmed that Ancelotti‘s comments came as a knee-jerk reaction after seeing his team swing from possible recovery in the LaLiga Santander title race to an impossible fight, trailing Barcelona by 12 points in the table.
Although Ancelotti‘s evaluation is generally deemed to be quite bizarre, several parties consulted by this newspaper have highlighted Ancelotti‘s good character, which he has shown throughout his career, and recognizes that, on this occasion, he responded in an emotional manner as he quickly faced the prospect of losing a league title in the space of five minutes.
