Getty Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has criticized the use of VAR in La Liga this season and has hinted he believes the technology favors rivals Real Madrid.
The Catalan giants have been knocked off the top of the table in Spain by Los Blancos since La Liga restarted in June after a three-month break. There have been several controversial decisions that have gone in Madrid’s favor since the restart, and Bartomeu told Movistar he does not think the technology is good enough.
“I watched up until the end of the second half [of Real Madrid’s win over Athletic Club] in Bilbao. It was another victory for Madrid and I will repeat the message: it leaves a bad taste for me because it is the best league in the world and VAR is not up to standard. That is impacting on some results. It seems to always favour one team. Even though some results of ours that have not been good, VAR has not been equitable and there are teams that have been hurt.”
Real Madrid beat Athletic 1-0 on Sunday with the only goal coming from the penalty spot. The Basque side were angered after the match as they felt they ought to have been awarded a spot-kick for a similar offense.
Striker Inaki Williams highlighted the incident when Ramos appeared to tread on Raul Garcia’s foot:
The defender said after the match: “I stepped on his boot a little. But I don’t see it [as a penalty].” Meanwhile, manager Zinedine Zidane told a press conference after the match: “I’m tired of hearing that we won because of referees.”
Controversy Reigns in La Liga
Real Madrid were also awarded a penalty in their previous game, a 1-0 win over Getafe, and have also seen decisions go in their favor in wins against Eibar, Valencia and Real Sociedad.
The decisions led Barcelona defender Gerard Pique to hint that referees are favoring Real Madrid in the final weeks of the season after seeing Valencia have a goal controversially ruled out in their defeat to Real Madrid.
“It’s difficult to see Madrid dropping points -and we have not been able to [beat Sevilla]. After three games now, it’s going to be difficult to see [the top teams] losing points, but we will try.”
The center-back also made a controversial gesture during Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Villarreal after Lionel Messi saw a goal ruled out by VAR for a tight offside call.
Setien Adds to VAR Complaints
Barcelona manager Quique Setien also joined in with the complaints about VAR after his team’s win over Villarreal.
The 61-year-old refused to comment on Bartomeu’s remarks but did offer his own thoughts on the technology.
“I understand VAR less and less. I think we have a tool that makes football fairer, but it doesn’t seem enough at the moment. Then it’s about the interpretation that is made of incidents, even watching it replayed many times.”
Barcelona and Real Madrid both now have just four games left to play in La Liga, with Los Blancos four points ahead and in charge of the title race. Setien’s side take on Espanyol next on Wednesday and can cut the gap to one point with a victory.
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