The Blaugrana team should have four more points and Real Madrid, two less
Xavi’s men would command the classification with 28 points compared to 23 for Ancelotti’s men
FC Barcelona receives Real Madrid this Saturday the 28th at Montjuïc, in which it will be the first classic of the season. The team led by Carlo Ancelotti is co-leader of the EA Sports League, with the same points as Girona, and two more than Xavi Hernández’s team. But the situation could be very different if the VAR had not intervened in the ten rounds that have been played.
Video refereeing has acted decisively in five matches for the white team and four for the Blaugrana. And his intervention has ended up earning Real Madrid two more points than they accumulate and Barça, four points less. This means that The Blaugrana team should lead the standings with 28 points, five ahead of the Madrid team, which should have 23.
The five games that the VAR has intervened with Real Madrid
The white account began with the visit to Balaídos. Larsen scored for Celta as soon as the match began, but César Soto Grado rectified his initial decision to concede the goal at the request of Eduardo Prieto Iglesias, who noted a possible previous foul on Kepa was more than debatable. The images did not make it clear that Larsen’s jump was enough to cancel the play, but Real Madrid added two extra points thanks to that VAR intervention.
The rest of the performances from the VOR room were successful, starting with the derby against Atlético. That day, Javier Alberola Rojas annulled a goal against Camavinga for a Rüdiger positional offside. The action does not allow discussion, since the German center back tries to finish off Bellingham’s center. Alaba comes from behind to finish and the ball, after Oblak’s rebound, reaches the feet of Camavinga, who scores into an empty goal. Guillermo Cuadra Fernández ratified the decision from the VOR room
In Girona, Jaime Latre Santiago warned Juan Luis Pulido Santana that Nacho’s very hard late tackle on Portu in the final stretch of the match deserved the red color and not just the yellow that the Canarian referee had initially decided on. Totally correct that the Appeal Committee ‘corrected’ by subtracting one game from Nacho’s suspension so that he would not miss the classic.
The last action in which the VAR entered was in the visit to Sánchez Pizjuán last Saturday. And he was also right. Fede Valverde beat Nyland, but Javier Iglesias Villanueba warned Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea from the VOR room that Bellingham had disputed the ball with the Seville goalkeeper starting from an illegal position.
The five games that the VAR has intervened with Barça
The Blaugrana team has had less luck with video refereeing, since in three of them they have been seriously harmed. The first of them, in La Cerámica. Xavi’s team started winning 0-2, but ended up suffering to seal the victory (3-4). And part of the blame was a goal awarded to Sorloth which meant the momentary 2-2. Alejandro Hernández Hernández initially disallowed the Norwegian’s goal due to offside, but ended up rectifying his decision at the request of Valentí Pizarro Gómez.
The images that were sent from the VOR room showed Koundé breaking the offside, but it was later revealed that the lines… had been thrown wrong! , so the goal should not have gone up on the scoreboard. The error did not end up having an impact, because Barça added the victory.
In Mallorca and Granada, Barça paid for the VAR intervention with four points. In Son Moix, Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz pointed out how penalty for a stomp by Copete on Lamine. Incomprehensibly, he rectified his decision after Eduardo Prieto Iglesias urged him to review the image. The piston, although slight, was meridian, which deprived Barça of a shot from eleven meters.
And in Granada, Carlos Cerro Grande frustrated the comeback by indicating to Cesar Soto Grado a possible positional offside by Ferran Torres in a goal by Joao Félix. Unlike the two goals disallowed against Real Madrid due to this circumstance, Foios’s goal did not intervene at all in the action, since the Portuguese’s shot occurred very far from his position.
In Pamplona, Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias was right in ratifying Catena’s grab on Lewandowski inside the area, despite the fact that Guillermo Cuadra Fernández tried to get him to rectify his decision by making him go to the monitor installed at the foot of the field to review the play.