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El Clásico: Real Madrid call out referee, VAR for not punishing Barcelona

By agency reporter On Dec 19, 2019 0

Real Madrid have aired their Clasico grievances about the referee and VAR on the club’s official website.

The Spanish side took the surprising step to criticise Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez in the ‘news’ section of the site unpicking mistakes they thought the official made.

This challenge from Clement Lenglet on Rafael Varane was one of the sources of complaint.

The main focus of Real’s complaint was that Rafael Varane suffered two fouls that in their opinion should have been given as penalties.

A statement on the club’s website read: ‘Rafael Varane was stood on by Lenglet and two minutes later had his shirt pulled by Ivan Rakitic.

‘Varane was involved in two controversial moments in El Clásico at the Camp Nou. The Frenchman could have had two penalties in the first half but Hernandez Hernandez did not give either of them.

‘On minute 17, the madridista went to head a corner before Lenglet stood on his thigh muscle in the area, but neither the referee nor VAR (where De Burgos Bengoetxea was in charge) deemed it a penalty.

‘Two minutes later and following another corner, the central defender had his shirt pulled by Ivan Rakitic, which saw him end up on the ground in the penalty area. However, once again, neither the referee or the VAR system decided to award the penalty.’

Despite the unusual decision to post such a public critique of the refereeing performance, pictures of both incidents suggest that Real might have grounds for their dismay.

Lenglet clearly made contact with Varane’s thigh and the Real centre-back had stud marks up his leg from the challenge.

And above the article on the website is a screengrab of Rakitic holding onto Varane’s shirt as they jostle for a corner.

AS ran the headline: ‘White Tsunami but no goal and no VAR’, after Wednesday’s Clasico

Madrid based newspaper AS ran the headline: ‘White Tsunami but no goals and no VAR’, alongside a picture of the Lenglet incident.

Ultimately Hernandez Hernandez waved away protests and the Clasico finished 0-0 for the first time in 17 years. Barcelona remain top of LaLiga but only on goal difference.