The referee is in the spotlight again as Barcelona are denied a penalty against Las Palmas

Barcelona dropped points at home in La Liga for the first time this season as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Las Palmas.

It was a poor performance from the Catalans, who failed to assert their dominance in the game and looked rather clumsy for ninety minutes.

However, the result could easily have gone in Barcelona’s favor if there hadn’t been another mishap by the referees, reports SPORT.

Foul on Cubarsi, unnoticed

In the 88th minute, as Barcelona desperately hoped for an equalizer, Pau Cubarsi was fouled by Mika Marmol in the Las Palmas penalty area.

Marmol stepped on Cubarsi’s heel, an incident that went unnoticed even though the Barcelona defender was left bleeding afterwards.

Field referee Cordero Vega and VAR referee Busquets Ferrar did not consider the incident serious enough to stop the game at all.

Cubarsi himself complained, even though his ankle was covered in blood. But the game continued as if nothing had happened.

Not the only incident

A foul on Cubarsi wasn’t the only time the referees ignored this afternoon. At the start of the game, in the 55th minute, Raphinha was elbowed by a Las Palmas player.

The Elbow could easily have left Las Palmas with ten men. However, none of the referees deemed it serious enough to review the incident – once again Barcelona’s cries went unheard.

The referee’s decisions cost the Catalans dearly that day and could be decisive for the title race.