This is undoubtedly the turning point of a first period largely dominated by Barça.
In stoppage time, the Catalans get a penalty while the score of this knockout stages of the Champions League against PSG is still 1-1.
Responsible for shooting him, Lionel Messi finds Keylor Navas on the way to his shot.
The Parisian goalkeeper deflects the shot from the Argentinian, who ends his race on the crossbar.
The Parisians are exulting, the Barça star is annoyed.
But should this first failure of the six-fold Golden Ball in the C1 exercise since 2015 have been validated by the referee?
A question answered in the negative by the Catalan sports daily Mundo Deportivo.
The reason, according to the newspaper?
The presence of Marco Verratti in the arc of a circle in front of the Parisian penalty area at the time of Lionel Messi's shot.
In this image, we see the Italian midfielder entering the arc in front of his penalty area / Screenshot / RMC Sport
According to Football Law 14, “all players other than the shooter and the goalkeeper must be at least 9.15 m from the penalty spot”.
However, this arc of a circle serves precisely to materialize this radius around the penalty point.
By entering, the Italian midfielder is therefore at fault and could have offered a new opportunity to the Catalans.
"One of the biggest failures in the Var"
Lionel Messi's attempt was however watched by the Var, but which seems to have only focused on a possible passing of the line by Keylor Navas.
“One of the biggest failures of the Var,” denounces As, the Madrid sports daily, which highlights that the presence of Marco Verratti in the arc of a circle could have been denounced by video arbitration.
What the Var protocol allows, in fact.
With this penalty saved and eight other saves, Keylor Navas was instrumental in the PSG draw (1-1) on Wednesday night.
"Thank God I stayed focused," commented the Costa Rican at the microphone of RMC Sport.
The Catalan press has a less divine reading this Thursday morning.
