Pitchside recording technology has revealed exactly what passed between Pedri, the Barcelona players and referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea during the review of Cucho Hernández's handball, which ended with Giovani Lo Celso's goal chalked off, in a match the Catalans won 5-2 against Real Betis.
According to Spanish newspaper "Sport", the audio laid bare the protests of Pedri, Barcelona's captain on the pitch, alongside the referee's initial stance. More than once, he insisted he did not see the handball as worthy of a foul.
It all kicked off when Pedri marched over to protest, saying: "It's a completely clear handball."
De Burgos Bengoetxea replied: "For me, there is a movement that does not warrant a foul, okay?" The interpretation did not convince the Spanish midfielder, who hit back: "How is it not a foul? He controlled the ball with his hand."
The referee then told the Barcelona player he would review the play, asking that Pedri alone speak with him: "Pedri, you only, I'll speak with you alone... review the handball for me, because that's what Siro is asking of me," a reference to the man in charge of the video assistant referee technology.
Back came Pedri to reaffirm his stance: "It's a completely clear handball." Valentín Gómez then waded in to deny any foul, but Pedri repeated that Cucho had used his hand to control the ball: "Yes, it's a handball. Cucho made this movement and everything in order to control it."
More Barcelona players crowded in as the row grew. Lamine Yamal added his voice to the complaints, while Rodri insisted the Colombian had controlled the ball with his hand. The referee would not budge: "I don't see it as a handball that warrants a foul."
The Real Betis player shot back: "He controlled it with his hand." De Burgos Bengoetxea simply repeated himself: "Okay, but I don't see it as a handball that warrants a foul."
Fermín López also stepped in to demand the foul: "It's completely clear."
Pedri, meanwhile, questioned the referee's reasoning on the position of the arm: "How is it not a foul if he controlled the ball with his hand?"
De Burgos Bengoetxea explained his thinking: "For me, his arm was in a natural position." Pedri answered by moving his own arm to show how he believed Cucho had reached for the ball.
Getty ImagesBellerín's defence
Through the protests stepped Héctor Bellerín, Real Betis's captain on the pitch. The referee explained they would review the handball and the play leading up to the goal, repeating his initial read that he saw nothing worth sanctioning, though he said he would let Bellerín know if the video assistant referee flagged a foul.
"That's all, there's nothing more," the referee said during the exchange.
Bellerín, for his part, defended the goal: "Just for the goal he scored, it should be given. For football."
Once again Pedri insisted Cucho had made the movement to control the ball with his hand.
In the end, De Burgos Bengoetxea asked the video assistant referee to run through the whole sequence: "Let me see it, please. Tell me, Siro. There's a deflection of the ball, and I don't know whether that represents a second phase of play, you tell me."
That turned the focus onto the play just before Lo Celso's shot.
After the review, the referee chalked off the Argentine's goal for Cucho's handball at the start of the attack.
The decision followed a lengthy argument. Pedri and several Barcelona players kept demanding the foul, while the referee voiced his initial doubts more than once over whether the handball deserved a sanction.