Real Sociedad’s hopes of winning this season’s Copa del Rey were dashed on Tuesday, as they lost to Mallorca in their semi-final clash at Reale Arena. The tie finished 1-1 after 210 minutes, and heroics from Dominik Greif in the penalty shoot-out ensured that the Palma-based side progressed to the final.
La Real came so close to winning the tie in extra time, as Samu Costa twice cleared the ball of the line. The second came from a thunderous Kieran Tierney strike, which the home side was convinced had closed the line.
No goal was given by the officials, who could not rely on technology to confirm the decision as Spanish football does not have goal-line technology in operation for any of its competitions. This came back to bite La Real, and 3D technology has now shown that Tierney’s strike did in fact cross the line.
After 3D review it seems that the ball did go behind the line and Real Sociedad should’ve had a 2-1 lead in extra time yesterday against Mallorca. 🤔⚽️
The goal was ruled out by VAR as there is no goal line technology in Spain. 😬
[@ArchivoVAR]pic.twitter.com/oG0YGldd1o
— LaLigaExtra (@LaLigaExtra) February 28, 2024
It’s a bitter, bitter pill to swallow for Real Sociedad, and this situation could now re-open the debate towards the Spanish Football Federation and La Liga addressing the matter. It’s clear to see that this technology is needed more than ever.
