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Barcelona 3, AC Milan 1: Match Highlights

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  1. The grabbing, as I saw it, happened before the “pick”.

    I’m with you. Consistency. I just want shirt pulling in the box called all the time. It is a foul. Just because referees don’t whistle for it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be called. If you want less of a behavior, you incentivize (punish) it. As I see it, it’s a rule on the books, it should be enforced.

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  2. Missed the game yesterday but it looks like Puyol was setting a pick on the second penalty call? Looked like there was a shirt pull though. I’m not a ref but I think I would have called a foul on Barcelona for the pick.

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  3. By the letter of the law, sure. Pulling someone’s shirt is a foul, a foul in the box is a penalty. However, considering the circumstances, the magnitude of the game, and the fact that Puyol blatantly set a basketball style pick (and a moving one at that) on the defender, causing him to grab the shirt in the first place, it’s understandable that people would be questioning that decision. For me, that situation would’ve required nothing more than the ref stopping play, separating the players and restarting.

    The issue here is not Barcelona being gifted anything. In fact, if you go back and watch the first leg, they had two pretty clear penalties not called so I don’t buy the conspiracy theory bs that the refs are giving the CL to Barca.

    The issue here is the consistent application of the rules. Shirt pulling and holding on set pieces happens all the time, and it rarely receives more than a talking to from the ref, whether in league play or in CL competition. If referees are going to call fouls and penalties for holding and shirt pulling I’m totally fine with that, I would just like to see it at least semi-consistently applied to all teams in all games across the CL.

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  4. I don’t care for Barcelona or Milan,But the illegal pick by PUYOL is just as much a foul as the shirt pull. In fact, the first foul by Puyol led the now trailing defender to grab the shirt. Just my opinion.

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  5. I still fail to see what the controversy is all about. Grabbing somebody in the box is a penalty kick.
    Just because it wasn’t called in the first game it doesn’t mean the rules have changed. It still a foul

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