Barcelona defender Jordi Alba claimed he could see from the "middle of the pitch" that Lionel Messi's first-half 'goal' against Valencia had crossed the line.
Messi was convinced he had put the La Liga leaders ahead in the top-of-the-table clash at Mestalla when his relatively tame effort squirmed through the grasp of Valencia goalkeeper Neto.
Replays showed the ball was clearly in but, with the absence of goal-line technology in La Liga, the game was allowed to continue by the referee. Spain full-back Alba, who rescued a 1-1 draw for Barca with a late volley against his former club after Rodrigo had opened the scoring, said such errors cannot be allowed to happen.
"It was a mistake by the referee," he told Spanish newspaper Marca. "Even from the middle of the pitch I could see it. "At the break we saw the replay and it is clear, these plays can't be missed."
The denial of the legitimate goal had threatened to become even more controversial when Rodrigo capped a fine Valencia move by slotting in the opening goal with an hour played.
Victory for second-place Valencia would have moved them to within a point of their opponents but Messi, who signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract on Friday, recovered from the setback to produce a sensational assist for Alba's superb 82nd-minute leveller.
Video technology, which is already widely used elsewhere, is set to be introduced to Spain's top flight at the start of next season. And Alba believes it is long overdue.
"It's just another form of technology that will help football," he added. "They will see plays like this and fix the problem."
Valencia coach Marcelino had to watch the controversial contest from the stands as he began a two-game touchline ban following his dismissal at Espanyol last weekend.
Despite Los Che benefiting from the denial of Messi's 30th-minute strike, assistant coach Ruben Uria said he supported video assistance.
"The season that comes with the VAR (video assistant referees) is going to be fixed, we are in favour of the technologies," Uria the club website.
From SkySport
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