KHEDIRA WAS ON-SIDE
Former Spanish La Liga referee Raul Garcia de Loza has said that the opening goal scored by Sami Khedira in the latest El Clasico at the Camp Nou is not an offside goal. Sami Khedira managed to capitalise on the mistake by Barcelona captain Carlos Puyol to score the opening goal of the match, which also turned out to be the record goal for Real Madrid. It provided Real Madrid with the best opportunity to get three points from the match, as they continued to play on the counter-attack. Even though Barcelona equalised through Sanchez in the second half, Barcelona immediately lost the lead to a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Many have been saying that the goal scored by Sami Khedira in the first quarter of the match was extremely important in providing Real Madrid with the impetus and belief in the remaining minutes. However, there has also been a controversy surrounding a goal because it appears on the replays that Sami Khedira is an offside position when Carlos Puyol receives the ball. Raul Garcia de Loza was the referee of the Spanish league matches for almost 10 years from 1984 to 1994. He has said that the goal scored by Sami Khedira is perfect.
“In the first goal there was no foul by Pepe, nor was Khedira offside. He was played on by Adriano. Barcelona’s goal is legit, just like Ronaldo’s. There were no mistakes in the key plays. Undiano Mallenco officiated well tonight, he made no errors for most part. In the second half, there was the odd card misjudgment, but not in the most important phases of play. It was a game of high tension but he kept it under control. He deserves a good mark for his performance,” said the former referee regarding the goal by Khedira.
