The controversial VAR decisions that went Real Madrid’s way this weekend reverberated long after the Spanish powerhouse escaped an embarrassing setback against the worst team in the Spanish league.
Madrid benefitted from three second-half video reviews and
then scored deep into stoppage time to erase a two-goal deficit and beat
last-place Almeria 3-2 at home on Sunday, avoiding dropping points and damaging
its title chances.
The overturned calls were close ones that were open to
interpretation, including two handball incidents, but by the time the third VAR
decision benefitted the Spanish giant in detriment of its underdog opponent,
the game had already become one of the most discussed in Spanish soccer in
recent years.
“Someone decided that we couldn’t win here,” Almeria
defender Marc Pubill said.
“The feeling is that the game was taken away from us,” added
defender Gonzalo Melero.
Coach Gaizka Garitano didn’t “have the words to summarize
what happened.” He said he didn’t want to say much to avoid being sanctioned.
The complaints went beyond those by Almeria — the
Saudi-owned club that missed a chance to end its 21-game winless streak in the
Spanish league.
“Robbery,” read a front-page headline by the Barcelona-based
Mundo Deportivo sports daily on Monday. “Referees gift Madrid the victory.”
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández said “everyone saw what
happened” at the Bernabeu.
“I had already said it, it’s going to be very difficult to
win this league,” Xavi said after Barcelona’s 4-2 win at Real Betis later
Sunday. “There are things that are not making sense to me.”
The rivalry between Barcelona and Madrid often spills into
refereeing controversies, with both teams accusing the other of being favored
by officials. Barcelona last year was formally accused of making payments of
millions of euros over several years to a company that belonged to the vice
president of Spain’s football refereeing committee.
Commentators on Real Madrid’s television channel said
justice was done on Sunday, and that the VAR decisions were all correct. Madrid
coach Carlo Ancelotti said after the game that he understood why Almeria was
upset but felt that all calls were the right ones.
Madrid was losing 2-0 in the second half when the VAR
decisions started going its way. It was awarded a penalty kick for a handball
inside the area that made it 2-1, saw an Almeria goal that would have made it
3-1 get disallowed for a foul in the buildup, and got the 2-2 equalizer after a
goal by Vinícius Júnior was initially disallowed for a handball that the video
referee then said came off his shoulder.
The Spanish league released the audio clips of the VAR’s
discussions — something it began doing after every game this year — but Almeria
complained that the referee was not shown the most appropriate image angles. It
also said a possible foul on one of its players was not properly analyzed
during one of the reviews.
Former referee Alfonso Pérez Burrull told sports daily Marca
that the three VAR decisions were “borderline actions and with a lot of
interpretation, enough in my opinion for the referee not to overturn his
initial decisions.”
The discussions surrounding the calls will likely continue
for some time in Spain even though the final result won’t change — Madrid will
continue to fight for the title, and Almeria will remain without its first
victory.
“Don’t expect us to publish the match report this time,”
Almeria said on one of its social media channels. “What happened is all very
clear.” AP