“Mafias against Barcelona”, “La Liga is a joke” - Barca fans furious with ‘insane decision’ against them during 3-1 win over Alaves
Barcelona fans are outraged with Martínez Munuera after January signing Vitor Roque was sent off in their 3-1 win against Deportivo Alaves today (February 3).
Roque came on in the 59th minute of Barca's win at the Mendizorroza. The Brazilian striker took just four minutes to get on the scoresheet when he finished off a fine move when combining with Spanish youngster Hector Fort.
However, the 18-year-old was booked in the 67th minute after he caught Alaves' Argentine defender Nahuel Tenaglia in the face. Things went from bad to worse as he was given his marching orders five minutes later in a chaotic cameo appearance.
Roque attempted to win the ball back from Rafa Marin and there didn't appear to be too much in his challenge. But, Munuera deemed it to have been a foul and a second bookable offense for the teenage forward.
Barcelona held on to their lead with a fine defensive performance but were outraged with Roque's sending-off. It could be argued that Marin was the one actually at fault.
The Catalan giants' win came courtesy of goals from Robert Lewandowski, Ilkay Gundogan and Roque. Alaves were on target through Atletico Madrid loanee Samu Omorodion.
However, much of the post-match talk has been about Roque's red card which the Camp Nou faithful are furious with. Intriguingly, SPORT reported years ago that Munuera is a Real Madrid fan and his father is the founder of Madridsta Fan Club 'Los Amigos', per Barca Universal.
One Barcelona fan made their feelings clear:
"It’s a mafias against Barcelona."
Another fan slammed La Liga:
"So this is the tackle which got him a red? La Liga is a joke."
One fan was equally as angry:
"That decision is insane."
Here's how fans on X (formerly Twitter) reacted to the Brazil international's sending-off:
Barcelona manager Xavi labels Vitor Roque's red card as an 'obvious mistake'
Xavi attempted to remain tight-lipped about Roque's sending off but couldn't hide his disappointment with the decision. The Blaugrana boss said (via CentreGoals):
"Vitor Roque's red? I'm not going to talk anymore about the referees, but it's another obvious mistake. I think that we are paying for the Negreira case. It's the truth."
Barcelona are currently embroiled in the ongoing Negreira Case which is a scandal involving alleged payments made by the club to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2001 and 2008.
The Spaniard is the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees of the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The La Liga giants have been accused of bribery and the case started back in September last year.