Mateu Lahoz apologised for ruling out a Messi goal that would have won the league LaLiga Santander - Barcelona Paolorosso reveals what happened

Atletico Madrid's LaLiga triumph in 2013/14 is one of the most interesting Spanish football stories of recent times, but the league title could have gone to Barcelona had a Lionel Messi goal stood.

The Argentine's strike was incorrectly ruled out for an offside, one which referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz apologised for afterwards.

"Messi scored a goal that would have given us the title and the referee ruled it out," Elvio Paolorosso, the assistant to Tata Martino, explained in an interview with TNT Sports.

"We were crying in the dressing room and the referee came to apologise.

"It was a difficult year."

The match finished 1-1, a result which was enough for the capital city side to win the league.