Chelsea handed immediate referee verdict after Enzo Fernandez disallowed goals vs Barcelona

Enzo Fernandez thought he had given Chelsea an early lead against Barcelona but his goal was quickly disallowed (Image: (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images))

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenberg has given his verdict on the goal scored by Enzo Fernandez that was disallowed for handball. The Argentine reacted quickest to a ball put across the box by Wesley Fofana but it was deemed the latter used his arm to take control of possession.

Clattenberg was quickly brought in by Amazon Prime to share his thoughts on the incident. He said: "The referee, as the ball went in, he quickly whistled to tell everyone its handball. This will be checked by VAR of course.

"It is an interesting one because he's [Fernandez] not the direct scorer, if they deem it is accidental, it should be given as he did not score."

A swift VAR check saw officials on the technology agree with the referee and it deemed that Fofana using his hand was not accidental.

Just moments later, Ferran Torres should have put Barcelona in front but the former Manchester City man dragged his shot wide from close range.

Fernandez thought he had scored the opener midway through the half but was denied again, this time by the linesman's flag.

A free-kick from Estevao ended up at the back post which saw him nod home but Trevoh Chalobah made an attempt for the ball when in an offside position.

VAR checked the decision but agreed with the call made at Stamford Bridge. Clattenberg later gave a clear explanation on why it was ruled out.

He said: "As the cross comes in, Chalobah is an offisde position and as he has touched it, he'll be the one that is offside."

Chelsea did eventually go in front during the first 45 minutes with Pedro Neto's goal-bound effort inadvertently put into his own net by Jules Kounde.

Ahead of the clash, Enzo Maresca addressed Barcelona's quality with the Chelsea boss full of praise during his press conference

He said: "I think they're spectacular, it's a team that whenever I look at it there are things that can be learned, things that can be looked at, how they attack, how they defend, which in the end has given them the chance to win La Liga last year, to get to the Champions League semi-final.

"They do a lot of things very well and it's a team that always wants initiative, always wants value and we try to do the same on our side."

Chelsea certainly have their own strengths though with Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho able to get in behind early on. Estevao Willian was also causing problems in the first half.