Barça's first goal was illegal and shouldn't have counted, VAR stayed silent.

Real Madrid suffered a significant defeat in El Clásico, a result that considerably distances them from the possibility of aiming for the LaLiga leadership. The match was marked by multiple refereeing controversies both in favor of the white team and the blaugrana entity. But the debate has focused on the actions in which Real Madrid was "benefited," leaving aside the two errors committed in FC Barcelona's first goals.

Especially in Eric García's goal, which started the culé comeback at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. The play came from a corner kick taken by Dani Olmo to the near post and extended by Ferran Torres with a header. That loose ball was taken advantage of by the culé "24" to narrow the gap and establish a new dynamic in the match.

But Dani Olmo took the corner kick with the ball outside the regulatory quarter circle, a circumstance in which VAR should have intervened to annul the goal. Juan Martínez Munuera, however, didn't seem to warn Alejandro José Hernández Hernández of that situation, and the culé defender's goal went up on the scoreboard. That goal, which proved decisive for the blaugrana team's victory, is not the only one in discussion.

Something similar happens with the second goal. Lamine Yamal's goal that placed the 2-2 on the Clásico scoreboard was preceded by a half-minute play that, however, started with many doubts. Frenkie de Jong might have controlled the ball in an illegal manner.

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In the replays of that play, it can be seen how FC Barcelona's "21" controls the aerial ball with part of his chest and with the left arm's bicep. The impact of the ball on the Dutch midfielder's armpit and bicep makes the ball easier to control... and initiates the action that Lamine Yamal would end up converting into the equalizer.

Juan Martínez Munuera stopped seeing from the VAR and Alejandro José Hernández Hernández stopped signaling this handball on the field. Frenkie de Jong's possible infraction was subject to review by the video arbitration system, since it had concluded in a goal... a scenario reflected in the regulations regarding the implementation of the VAR system in our soccer.

These controversies focus the debate on the performance of the referees appointed for a match that could define the future of the current league season. Especially after FC Barcelona's victory, framed in the doubts of their first two goals, because the distance now seems insurmountable.

Only a competitive catastrophe from Hansi Flick's pupils, as well as a full Madridist victory in the last three matches, would solve the situation in favor of the merengue squad. That future seemed possible if they had obtained the three points from El Clásico in Montjuïc, an ideal position that slipped away despite having tried everything.