Valverde: It's absurd that technology doesn't exist in Spanish football

Ernesto Valverde spoke in a press conference on Tuesday before Wednesday's Coap del Rey game against Real Murcia. The 3-0 cushion form the first leg meant other issues were addressed, though, such as the goal not given to Lionel Messi at Mestalla. 

First of all, Valverde was asked why he brought up the goal Barça scored against Malaga, when the ball went out of play in the build up to Gerard Deulofeu's goal. "What I said about the Malaga game was something that came into my head," he said. "I said what everyone else was going to say. What is absurd is that someone in the top row of the stadium and see that the ball that's in and those below them cant. From the assistant's view, he couldn't see it. I couldn't either." 

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Despite the fact he couldn't see if the ball had gone in, he added that "from the moment I saw what happened I knew it was in because of how Leo celebrated, the goalkeeper had his head down, Montoya went to get the ball to take it back to the middle of the pitch. It's crazy that in such an important game and at an important moment, the referee doesn't see it when there are 40,000 people that knew it was a goal. In European games, we have a referee behind the goal, but we don't have that here. Every year there's an episode like this. Last season it happened to Barça at Real Betis. One year it will end with goal-line technology or VAR or whatever it takes."

On the level of referring in Spain, Valverde said that "they make mistakes but the level of refereeing in Spain is good. We are always going to complain. We always want decisions to go in our favour. But I don't question the level of refereeing in the Spanish first division at all. Refereeing is tough. To give a goal when you don't know if it went it, it's tough. But Goal-line technology has to be introduced, of course. With the technology we have in our hands and what is used in other sports and other leagues, it's absurd that it doesn't exist here."