Barcelona coach Hansi Flick criticised the “wrong decision” to disallow Robert Lewandowski’s goal for offside as his team were beaten 1-0 at Real Sociedad on Sunday in LaLiga.

Lewandowski thought he had opened the scoring at Anoeta in the 14th minute, but semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), introduced in Spain at the start of the season, ruled the striker’s toe was marginally ahead of La Real defender Nayef Aguerd’s foot.

The hosts went on to win the game through Sheraldo Becker’s strike, ending Barça’s seven-game winning streak in all competitions. For the first time this season, Flick’s team failed to find the net in a game.

“It was the wrong decision, clear,” Flick told Barça One after the match. “I saw the picture. It’s clear, it’s clear, but we have to accept it.

“It was not the referee’s fault. At the end of the day, we are humans, we make mistakes, and today was a big mistake.”

SAOT is not used universally across Europe. Italy’s Serie A was the first major league to implement it, and there is a desire to introduce it in the Premier League, but its rollout in England has been delayed as testing continues.

Flick was adamant it failed in Lewandowski’s goal. He aired his thoughts to the referee at half-time, although he played down the idea that he had come across as “angry” in the discussion.

Hansi Flick looks on during Barcelona’s loss to Real Sociedad, the second league defeat for his team this season. Getty Images
“It was not so angry,” he laughed in his post-game news conference. “I said only to him ‘It was a goal, it was wrong decision, it was not offside.’

“But it was not his fault. We have to accept it. Until then, with the 1-0 for us, it would be a different match. But at the end, it was different and it was not our day.

“At the end, it’s a defeat, but the matches before and after the last break were fantastic. I appreciate the team and how they are doing.”

Barça’s second league defeat of the season also came with Lamine Yamal watching from the stands after bruising his ankle in the midweek Champions League victory over Red Star Belgrade.

The 17-year-old, who has six goals and eight assists in 16 appearances this season, did not start the last time Barça lost in LaLiga, either, against Osasuna in September.

“I think it would be an easy answer to say ‘OK, we lost because Lamine wasn’t there,'” Flick said when asked if it was just a coincidence they have lost both matches the teenager has not started.

“Of course a player like this quality Lamine has, every team will miss it. But in the end, we started well. I think the goal, what I can say was a wrong decision, absolutely, but we have to accept it.

“After the La Real goal we suffered a little bit. I think today was not our day, also in the offense we did not the clear chances to make goals. We made wrong decisions in the last third. We have to accept it today.”

Flick added that Barça’s and Spain’s doctors will now decide whether Yamal joins up with the national team for upcoming fixtures against Denmark and Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League.

The defeat to La Real sees Barça’s lead at the top of LaLiga cut to six points, while second-placed Real Madrid also have a game in hand. They return to action after the international break against Celta Vigo on Nov. 23.

Spanish forward Nico Williams says fighting racism is his number one goal following multiple incidents of abuse against black players in the country.

The Atletic Bilbao star, who was in born in Spain to Ghanaian parents, is one of several players to have suffered racist abuse in LaLiga, a recurring problem with Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior in particular repeatedly harassed by opposing fans since arriving in the country in 2018.

Clubs and players alike have been outspoken about the issue with Vinicius Jr saying last month that Spain should be stripped of its 2030 World Cup hosting duties unless significant progress is made in addressing racism.

Williams, who played a starring role when Spain won Euro 2024, told El Mundo: “My brother (fellow player Inaki Williams) and I, as black people, have an important task in this life, which is the fight against racism. It’s my number one goal.

“As a public figure, in order to contribute to that fight, I cannot be sidetracked or become a freak and not have my feet on the ground.”

” You have to support your team without needing to insult anyone. I don’t understand that behaviour and they make football worse.

Last month a Mallorca fan was handed a 12-month suspended sentence by a Spanish court for racially insulting Vinícius and Villareal’s Samuel Chukwuese.

“I think that Spain is moving forward on the right path and we must continue like this,” Williams said. “There are always people who try to sell another image of immigrants, but they are a minority. I am very happy to see that progress is being made in this battle against racism. I am going to try to do everything in my power so that these people [immigrants] can have a better life.”

In a new documentary where the former Spain and current Paris Saint-Germain coach is the protagonist, Luis Enrique is seen taking what has been perceived as a dig at FC Barcelona center back Ronald Araujo.

The documentary in question chronicles Luis Enrique’s first season in the dugout at the Parc des Princes, with a particular focus on a Champions League quarterfinal clash against his former club Barca, who were led by his ex-teammate and player Xavi Hernandez at the time.

There is a section of the three-parter where Luis Enrique discusses Barca stalwart Araujo in preparation for the showdown.

“Araujo is a top player, but he is the one who has the most problems with coming out with the ball. Every time he receives the ball, we block a passing line and we are in,” Enrique says.

As things turned out, it was the Uruguayan’s decision making which proved to be the death of the Blaugrana on the continent in 2023/2024.

Xavi’s men achieved a heroic 2-1 win away in the first leg of the last eight meeting, and then went 1-0 up early in Montjuic in the return fixture through Raphinha.

Shortly after, however, Araujo went lunging into a rash challenge on Bradley Barcola as the last man and was shown a straight red card.

With 10 men, Barca succumbed to their visitors and were thrashed 4-1 on the night resulting in a 6-4 aggregate score overall.

Since-departed Barca midfielder Ilkay Gundogan was particularly vocal and critical about Araujo’s moment of madness, saying post-match that “in these kind of crucial moments you need to be sure to get the ball”.

And if you don’t get it – and I don’t know again if he touched the ball or not – you have to stay away,” the German added, in remarks that reportedly led to tensions in the locker room.

As for Luis Enrique, these freshly-emerged comments join others about Xavi’s team who he said “are not a good team defensively” and “are not dominant”.

“They wouldn’t have beaten us with eleven or twelve [men]”, he also quipped, while further scoffing that the defending La Liga champions of the era “play like Eibar”.

– Forbes