Barça coach, Ronald Koeman, finished the Clasio very angry after the 3-1 defeat, totally confounded by referee Martínez Munuera, who went to watch VAR to adjudicate the battle between Lenglet and Sergio Ramos, ending up in a penalty for Los Blancos.
At the end of the game, Koeman, who was greeting the players of both teams, awaited the arrival of the referee with his linemen, and in a polite but energetic way, he let him know that he was upset about the use of the VAR.
After shaking his hand, he said “What for? For what? Tell me, have you seen the images of last week against Getafe, two tackles? There is only VAR against us.”
Then, speaking to Movistar, Koeman made his reflection on the subject clear. "Hopefully one day someone can explain to me the issue of VAR here in Spain. It has not been used against Sevilla, with Getafe... and this was my question to the referee," said Koeman.
REFEREEING DIVISION
The penalty awarded in favour of Madrid at the Camp Nou was not so clear among the arbitration team, showing the diversity of opinions on the matter.
On "Sports Carousel" on SER, the former referee Iturralde González said that it was "a referee given penalty, but not VAR, because it is interpretable."
Andújar Oliver, on ‘Radio Marca’, was clearly against it. "There was no reason to call a penalty," he said. "Those little shirt grabs are not a reason to blow for a penalty as it would be necessary to whistle for 40 every game."
Another former referee, César Barrenechea, believes that "it is a very gray play, of maximum arbitration interpretation, and from my point of view, it is not a penalty because it is a shirt pull like those that there are lots of in a game".