Marc Bartra's timed run wrongfoots Real Madrid

Marc Bartra says his run into the box after Kylian Mbappé's penalty was no accident. The Betis defender was already blocking the rebound before Álvaro Vallés had even finished saving the spot-kick that decided Friday's 1-0 win at La Cartuja, and Real Madrid's players immediately protested that he had encroached.

Bartra told Movistar Plus he had checked the rule with a contact from the refereeing world after seeing another player try the same thing weeks earlier.

Bartra said.

Mundo Deportivo reported that Bartra timed his run so precisely that half a second either way would have caught him inside the area before Mbappé struck the ball. Under the current Laws of the Game, an airborne player is not judged to have entered the box until his feet touch the ground, and VAR waved play on.

Yahoo Sports has since pointed out that IFAB's 2026/27 Laws change that calculation. Under the new wording, an airborne player's position is judged by where his feet would land if he were touching the ground, and a save followed by defensive encroachment that has an impact on the ball can now trigger a retake. On that reading, Bartra's projected landing spot — and his touch on the rebound — would have been enough to send Mbappé back to the spot, months before the rule takes effect.

The result leaves Mourinho's Real Madrid without a win at La Cartuja, beaten by Troy Parrott's late strike and Vallés's save, after Betis also had an Espí goal disallowed during the game.

Whether referees start applying that stricter reading of encroachment once the new law is in force is the open question. Had it applied on Friday, by all accounts Bartra's calculated dash would have cost Betis the points rather than won them.