From Glory to Gripes: Real Madrid’s Tough VAR Journey in La Liga

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) issues aren’t present only in one particular league as its performance has failed to bring smoothness to the beautiful game of football worldwide. The 2018 FIFA World Cup showcased how technology could help referees in ensuring fair assessment in every game. Since the introduction of the VAR in the World Cup, many countries including Spain adopted this technological system in their respective football leagues and tournaments. The Spanish Football Federation first introduced VAR in 2018, and the top-flight league of the country, La Liga, started incorporating it into every game week.

But, since its introduction VAR has faced criticism with almost all the teams in La Liga expressing their concerns time and again about the validity and fair assessment of the Video Assistant Referee overseeing the game. Major teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, etc have raised objections to VAR’s wrong calls several times, while smaller Spanish teams have been vocal against the biases of the referees and their VAR calls favoring the big guns in the league.

The recent controversial call from the referee to blow the final whistle in the Real Madrid vs Valencia game before Los Blancos scored a goal, has intensified scrutiny of VAR and referee decisions. It’s really surprising that fans, players, and managers from almost every club now claim that the relationship between football and VAR is broken all over the world.

In this article, we’ll discuss the current situation and performance of the VAR in La Liga, analyzing how the VAR decisions have impacted the journey of Real Madrid in Spain.

VAR Controversy in Spain

When top football bodies introduced VAR in their respective leagues, nobody anticipated the days when managers, players, and team members from every team would fire shots at the referees for dubious VAR decisions. According to Mundo Deportivo, La Liga is the second most affected league in terms of controversial VAR calls, with the Premier League leading the list.

Media reports suggest that there have been more than 26 games where VAR made result-changing interventions. If we focus on the last season (2022-23), six clubs should have gained more points if not for the technological errors in referring. If we look into last season’s results, points table, and VAR interruptions, we will be able to see there are two categories amongst the clubs in Spain – one has benefited, and the other has suffered the most.

Benefited Teams

Real Betis (+6 points)
Barcelona (+5 points)
Athletic Bilbao (+4 points)
Real Valladolid, Elche, Real Sociedad (+3 points)
Espanyol, Almeria (+2 points)

Suffered Teams

Real Madrid (-11 points)
Rayo Vallecano (-5 points)
Celta Vigo, Valencia, Getafe (-4 points)
Cadiz, Mallorca (-3 points)

Barcelona won the La Liga title last year, having claimed 88 points from 38 games. Real Madrid finished second in the standings with 78 points. If VAR decisions were flawless, then the result of the league would have been different.

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Real Madrid vs VAR (2022-23)

Whenever Real Madrid played a match in the La Liga 2022-23 season, the summary of the match often read – Another day, another controversial VAR decision. Many teams including Barcelona coach Xavi and Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone have always opined on the perceived favoritism Real Madrid receives from the VAR calls. But, in reality, Carlo Ancelotti’s side lost “most points” in La Liga due to technological flaws. An interesting stat from Sofascore suggests that if VAR weren’t implemented in the Spanish top flight, Los Blancos would have clinched the league title last season, edging out Barcelona by an estimated 3 points.

Many believe the Real Madrid vs Real Betis game in the 1st week of March of the previous season was one of the most important matches in La Liga, with several pundits labeling it as the title decider where both the teams shared the spoils. Due to VAR intervention, Real Madrid received only one point whereas they could have claimed all three points through a Karim Benzema free-kick in that match. The importance of this match was very significant for the Royal Whites as they were gearing up to face Barcelona in the last El Clasico of the league season.

VAR interruptions have become a regular case in Real Made matchdays. In 2023, the Spanish giants faced interventions 18 times in which more than 12 decisions went against Ancelotti’s side. Los Blancos have suffered most at the hands of VAR. However, there were plenty of occasions where Madrid was at the receiving end. In the last Madrid derby of the last season, the red-card call on an Atletico player was also controversial. VAR took a substantial amount of time to make a decision and it was questionable.

Real Madrid vs VAR (2023-24)

The current league season in Spain has seen mixed reactions from Real Madrid players and fans regarding VAR decisions. Real Madrid’s matches against Getafe, Barcelona, Real Betis, and Atletico Madrid last year in La Liga were hit by biased VAR calls in crucial moments during the games where Los Blancos were allegedly favored by the match officials. The latest addition to the list of allegations against Carlo Ancelotti’s men was the three controversial VAR decisions against Almeira. When the Madrid-based outfit was trailing 0-2 in the second half, three significant decisions went their way, and Madrid won the match 3-2.

However, this is not the full story regarding Real Madrid’s take on VAR. Their games against Sevilla and Atletico Madrid this year were two hyped clashes and four VAR calls denied Real potential advantages to turn the games in their favor. Despite winning against Sevilla, Los Blancos players were furious at the match officials. There were several moments in the Real Madrid vs Sevilla match in Santiago Bernabeu when the referee stopped the game when the home team was developing attacks.

A seemingly harsh tackle on Vinicius Jr by one Sevilla midfielder also went unnoticed which was later mentioned by Ancelotti during the post-match conference. According to Marca, Los Blancos have been denied 4 clear penalties so far this season despite technological intervention. It remains to be seen whether VAR decisions take the correct course of action for all the teams in Spain or rush to doubtful conclusions, drawing more criticism from almost every team, especially Real Madrid. However, it’s fair to say, Real Madrid has had a tough journey in La Liga due to VAR interventions.

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