Barcelona suspect Real Madrid will launch media campaign to influence referees before cup tie

“There remains the question of the goal that was disallowed. We were convinced that the game was won,” said a dejected Carlo Ancelotti referring to Marco Asensio’s disallowed goal during Real Madrid’s 1-2 defeat at hands of Barcelona at Camp Nou.

The Real Madrid manager spoke very candidly about several things during the aftermath of the game, and as it turns out, while Barcelona are not really taking the words of the Italian very personally, they are expecting more of the same from the opposition, reports journalist Toni Juanmarti.

The journalist claims that at Barça, they are of the idea digesting a defeat is proving to be quite difficult for Ancelotti. It is not just another loss for Madrid as it came against their eternal rivals and this beating more or less ended their chances of winning the La Liga title this season.

As far as Xavi is concerned, he remained perplexed as to why Ancelotti said the aforementioned in the first place. “Clear offside. I’m surprised Ancelotti said what he did because there’s no debate,” said the Barça manager.

As the celebrations of their second win over Real Madrid in a span of 17 days continue, there is a growing sense of belief among the Barcelona management that whatever Ancelotti said in his presser was nothing but a desperate attempt to begin the ‘mind games’ ahead of Copa del Rey semi-final second leg clash.

While the words seem nothing like a bitter reaction following the defeat, there is a feeling at Barcelona that his speeches may put pressure on referees and can ignite debates about the VAR ahead of the next El Clasico next month in the Copa del Rey.

All this makes the upcoming match between the two teams a game of the ages. Personal battles are expected especially after how Sunday’s game panned out where the likes of Dani Carvajal, Dani Ceballos, Arnau Tenas and Gavi were involved.

Amidst all this, the belief in the Barcelona dressing room is that there might be a media campaign running from now until the date of the second leg tie and during this, the Madrid team will try to condition the officials and their decisions.

For now, Barcelona already have a trophy in the bag and are well on course to win the league. Madrid, on the other hand, are only reliant on the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey. Hence, mind games are bound to take the centre stage in the coming days.