Kweku Baah

🚨Jamie Carragher on the controversial red card on Facundo Bernal after his altercation with Lamine Yamal: 🗣️Jamie Carragher: “I watched the replay slowly, frame by frame, because I wanted to understand exactly what happened. Everyone is debating whether Facundo Bernal deserved a red card. Fine, I’m not going to sit here and pretend he did nothing wrong. But did everybody watch what Lamine Yamal did before Bernal reacted? “Lamine came charging towards him with real aggression. Look at his movement, look at the speed, look at the way he approached the situation. To me, he wasn’t simply walking over to have a conversation. He was coming with intent, and that part of the incident seems to have been completely ignored. “Bernal then puts his hand across Lamine’s neck, pulls him closer and says something to him. Lamine goes down looking injured, and suddenly the entire situation becomes about Bernal. The referee shows Bernal a red card and Lamine a yellow. Excuse me? Have we completely forgotten how football discipline works? “If Bernal is being sent off for putting his hands on an opponent, then the referee needs to explain why Lamine’s part in the confrontation has been judged so differently. You cannot aggressively approach a player, contribute to an altercation and then somehow walk away with a lesser punishment simply because you end up on the ground. “Let me be clear: grabbing somebody around the neck is serious, and Bernal has to take responsibility for that. But refereeing is not supposed to be a one-sided investigation. You assess the entire incident, not just the final action that looks the worst on a replay. What happened before the contact? What was each player doing? Why is one player’s aggression being discussed while the other’s is practically being swept under the carpet? “If Bernal’s actions warrant a red card, then show me why Lamine’s actions do not deserve the same level of scrutiny. You cannot have one rule for one player and another rule for his opponent. That is not consistency; that is selective punishment. “And this is where my frustration really comes in. We have already seen several controversial decisions involving Betis in this match, including Lo Celso’s sensational goal being disallowed. Now we have another incident where Barcelona appear to have come out of the situation better off. At some point, you have to stop looking at every decision in isolation and ask why the same team keeps feeling aggrieved. “Barcelona are a fantastic football team. They don’t need anybody’s help to play football, and their talent should be enough to win matches. But when controversial decisions keep piling up, the officials are creating a completely unnecessary cloud over the game. Nobody wants to finish a match discussing referees instead of football, yet that is exactly where we are. “This is not the standard La Liga should be accepting. If the referee has the courage to send Bernal off, he must have the courage to judge Lamine’s involvement with the same honesty. You cannot punish the reaction and conveniently ignore the confrontation that came before it. Either the rules apply to everybody, or we need to stop pretending that this is consistent refereeing.”