Barçelona's skipper, Raphinha mocks VAR's decision with a humorous meme on his Instagram

Raphinha recently shared his thoughts on the offside decision that led to Robert Lewandowski's goal being ruled out, which drew attention after the team's frustrating 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad at Anoeta. 

In a light-hearted yet pointed response on social media, the Brazilian forward posted several photos with Lewandowski, using emojis to convey his mixed feelings about the decision. This humourous approach sparked discussions among fans.

Raphinha mocks the VAR decision

In his Instagram story, Raphinha included the VAR image that clearly showed Lewandowski's offside, which resulted in the disallowed goal in the 12th minute against Real Sociedad. He also shared a photo of Aguerd posing next to the Barcelona striker, underscoring his stance that there was no offside in his view.

To emphasize his point, Raphinha humorously uploaded an image of oversized shoes, suggesting that they represented his teammate's foot size at the moment the controversial offside call was made.

The reality is that the semi-automated offside technology determined that Lewandowski was in an offside position relative to Aguerd, which led to the disallowance of the Polish striker’s goal. This decision was controversial considering the context of the match and the images provided by VAR; however, it does not indicate a flaw in the technology, as official sources have recently confirmed. Throughout this season, this semi-automated offside system has worked perfectly in favor of Barcelona, as demonstrated in last week’s derby against Espanyol, where two goals were ruled out due to marginal offside infractions.

Gaffer's take on the VAR decision 

Following the fixture, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick took the opportunity to reflect on the team's performance. Despite the disappointment of the second loss in La Liga this season, he emphasized the importance of learning from the experience. Flick also addressed the controversial referee decision that resulted in the overturning of Lewandowski's goal with VAR assistance.

"Today was not our day. We must accept this result; there are no excuses. It's clear what we saw. We didn’t create enough chances, and they were more decisive. In the final third, we also made poor choices," Flick said.

"I told him it was a bad decision, and I made that clear to him," he added.