Barcelona achieved an important victory over its host, the stubborn Real Betis team, 2-1 , in the match that was held between them on Wednesday evening in the nineteenth round of the Spanish Premier League competitions.
Barcelona sits on the throne of La Liga after this victory, with 50 points, 8 points behind its closest pursuers, Real Madrid, who occupies second place with 42 points, and will face Valencia tomorrow, hoping to reduce that difference.
The Real Betis match witnessed widespread controversy inside and outside the stadium, even after the match, due to Barcelona’s first goal, which was scored by Rafinha in the 65th minute. The attack began with a free kick awarded by referee Ricardo de Bogos Bengotxea near the middle of the field.
Frenkie de Jong, after hearing the whistle, and while the Real Betis players were protesting the referee’s decision, the Dutchman hurried and passed the ball to Alejandro Balde on the left side, and the Spanish full-back, in turn, passed a cross to Rafinha, from which he scored the first goal.
Everyone protested at the Benito Villamarín stadium as they claimed that De Jong placed the ball farther than the one in which the foul occurred with Javi. Pellegrini, the Real Betis coach, claimed after the match that it was no less than 20 meters away.
Sport newspaper published the following image from the live broadcast of the match during the strong intervention of the Real Betis defender on Jaffe and another while De Jong made the pass that led to the goal and said that the position is the same and there is no distance between them.